Phospholipase A2 activity of pancreatic secretory factor, a new secretagogue isolated from the venom of Heloderma suspectum.

Pancreatic secretory factor (PSF), an efficient pancreatic secretagogue recently isolated from the venom of Heloderma suspectum, is shown to exert phospholipase A2 activity towards phosphatidylcholine. This activity is strictly dependent on calcium (apparent Ka 40 nM) and has an optimum pH around 9. At pH 7.4 and in the presence of calcium, PSF retains 40% of its phospholipase A2 activity. These results are compared to the calcium dependency of the secretory effect of PSF on rat pancreatic acini. Taken collectively, the present data on PSF suggest that a similar endogenous phospholipase A2 activity might be involved in the late steps of stimulus-secretion coupling in the exocrine pancreas.