Department of Studies in Biochemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangothri, India.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2011 Feb;108(2):79-83. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2010.00630.x. Epub 2010 Dec 13.
Snake venom components, acting in concert in the prey, cause their immobilization and initiate digestion. To achieve this, several hydrolytic enzymes of snake venom have evolved to interfere in various physiological processes, which are well defined. However, hydrolytic enzymes such as phosphatases (acid and alkaline phosphomonoesterases) are less studied and their pharmacological role in venoms is not clearly defined. Also, they show overlapping substrate specificities and have other common biochemical properties causing uncertainty about their identity in venoms. The near-ubiquitous distribution of these enzymes in venoms, suggests a significant role for these enzymes in envenomation. It appears that these enzymes may play a central role in liberating purines (mainly adenosine) - a multitoxin and through the action of purines help in prey immobilization. However, apart from this, these enzymes could also possess other pharmacological activities as venom enzymes have been evolved to interfere in diverse physiological processes. This has not been verified by pharmacological studies using purified enzymes. Further research is needed to biologically characterize these enzymes in snake venoms, such that their role in venom is clearly established.
蛇毒液成分协同作用于猎物，导致其瘫痪并开始消化。为了实现这一目标，蛇毒液中的几种水解酶已经进化到能够干扰各种生理过程，这些过程已经得到很好的定义。然而，像磷酸酶（酸性和碱性磷酸单酯酶）这样的水解酶研究较少，它们在毒液中的药理作用也没有明确界定。此外，它们表现出重叠的底物特异性，并且具有其他常见的生化特性，这使得它们在毒液中的身份存在不确定性。这些酶在毒液中的广泛分布表明它们在毒液中毒中起着重要作用。这些酶似乎在释放嘌呤（主要是腺苷）方面发挥着核心作用——一种多毒素，并通过嘌呤的作用帮助猎物瘫痪。然而，除此之外，这些酶还可能具有其他药理活性，因为毒液酶已经进化到能够干扰多种生理过程。这一点尚未通过使用纯化酶的药理学研究得到验证。需要进一步的研究来对蛇毒液中的这些酶进行生物学特征分析，以明确它们在毒液中的作用。
