SCREENING OF BOTHROPS SNAKE-VENOMS FOR L-AMINO-ACID OXIDASE ACTIVITY

Toxins, enzymes, and biologically active peptides are the main compone nts of snake venoms from the genus Bothrops. Following the venom inocu lation, the local effects are hemorrhage, edema, and myonecrosis. Nine teen different species of Brazilian Bothrops were screened for protein content and L-amino acid oxidase activity. B. cotiara, formerly found in the South of Brazil, is now threatened with extinction. Its venom contains a highly hemorrhagic fraction and, as expected from the deep yellow color of the corresponding lyophilized powder, a high L-amino a cid oxidase (LAO) activity was also characterized. Flavin adenine dinu cleotide (FAD) is its associate coenzyme. B. cotiara venom LAO catalyz ed the oxidative deamination of several L-amino acids, and the best su bstrates were methionine, leucine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine, henc e, its potential application for the use in biosensors for aspartame d etermination and for the removal of amino acids from plasma. High leve ls for LAO were also found in other species than B. cotiara. In additi on, the technique of isoelectric focusing (IEF) was employed as a powe rful tool to study the iso- or multienzyme distribution for LAO activi ty in the B. cotiara snake venom.