Snake venom proteins acting on hemostasis

The venoms of Viperidae and Crotalidae snakes are a rich source of proteins with activity against various factors involved in coagulation and fibrinol ysis. These proteins are very specific for their molecular targets, resista nt to physiological inhibitors and stable in vitro and in vivo. They have t herefore proved to be useful for diagnostic tests. Based on sequence simila rities, these snake venom proteins have been classified into various famili es, such as serine: proteinases, metalloproteinases, C-type lectins, disint egrins and phospholipases A(2). The various members of a given family, alth ough structurally similar, act selectively on different blood coagulation f actors. This opens up the possibility of characterizing the structural elem ents involved in target molecule recognition. Thus, snake venom proteins pr ovide excellent models for studies of structure-function relationships. (C) 2000 Societe francaise de biochimie et biologie moleculaire / Editions sci entifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.