Biochemical, pharmacological and structural characterization of two PLA2 isoforms Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 from Crotalus durissus ruruima snake venom

Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 isoforms of PLA(2), a D49 protein, were purified from Crotalus durissus ruruima venom after one chromatographic step, reverse phase HPLC on mu-Bondapack C-18. The molecular mass by SDS-PAGE of Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 isoforms of PLA(2) was 14333.49 Da and 14296.42 Da, respectively and confirmed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry .The amino acid composition showed that both isoforms Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 have a high content of Lys, Tyr, Gly, Arg, and 14 half-Cys residues, typical of a basic PLA(2). The isoforms Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 had a sequence of amino acids of 122 amino acid residues, being Cdr-12: SLLQFNKMIK FETRKNAIPF YAFYGCYCGW GGQGRPKDAT DRCCIVHDCC YGKLAKCNTK WDFYRYSLRS GYFQCGKGTW CEQQICECDR VAAECLRRSL STYRYGYMIY PDSRCREPSE TC and pI value 8.37 and Cdr-13: SLVQFEKMIK EETGKNAVPF YAFYGCYCGW GGRGRPKDAT DRCCIVHDCC YEKLVKCNTK WDFYRYSLRS GYFQCGKGTW CEQQICECDR VAAECLRRSL STYRYGKMIY PDSRCREPSE TC with a pI value of 8.13. This sequence shows high identity values when compared to other D49 PLA(2)s isolated from venoms of crotalics snakes. Skeletal muscle preparations from the young chicken have been previously used in order to study the effects of toxins on neuromuscular transmission, providing an important opportunity to study the differentiated behavior of a toxin before more than one model, because it shows differences in its sensibilities. In mice, the PLA(2) isoforms Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 induced myonecrosis and edema, upon intramuscular or subcutaneous injections, respectively. In vitro, Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 isoforms of PLA(2), caused a potent blockade of neuromuscular transmission in young chicken biventer cervicis preparation and produced cytotoxicity in murine C2C12 skeletal muscle myotubes and lack cytolytic activity upon myoblasts in vitro. Thus, the combined structural and functional information obtained identify Cdr-12 and Cdr-13 isoforms as members of the PLA(2) family, which presents the typical bioactivities described for such proteins.