A comparative study of clothing factors from the venom of Agkistrodon acutus collected in China and Taiwan

Abstract

1. 1. Two clotting factors, Cf-1(C) and Cf-2(C) were isolated from Agkistrodon acutus (collected in China) venom by gel filtration, ion-exchange chromatography and affinity chromatography. Using the same procedure, two clotting factors, Cf-1(T) and Cf-2(T), were isolated from Agkistrodon acutus (collected in Taiwan) venom and their characteristics were compared with Cf-1(C) and Cf-2(C). 2. 2. Molecular weights of Cf-1(C), Cf-2(C), Cf-1(T) and Cf-2(T) were determined to be 44,000, 70,000, 25,000 and 44,000 respectively. The factors were not immunologically related. 3. 3. The four clotting factors possessed tosyl- l-arginine methyl ester (TAME) hydrolyzing activity and coagulated fibrinogen to fibrin. Only Aα chain was cleaved when fibrinogen was incubated with each factor. 4. 4. Agkistrodon acutus is not classified by geographical location, however it is obvious that venom components vary between the Chinese and Taiwanese forms.