Caseinolytic and esteratic activities of Malayan pit viper venom and its proteolytic and thrombin-like fractions

Abstract

Some enzymic activities of the venom of the Malayan pit viper ( Agkistrodon rhodostoma) and its two major components were studied. The proteolytic component had strong caseinolytic activity but little esteratic activity using p- toluene sulphonyl- L-arginine methyl ester (TAME) and N-benzoyl- L-arginine ethyl ester (BAEE) as substrates. On the other hand, the thrombin-like component had marked activity on TAME and BAEE but no caseinolytic activity.