Characterization of phospholipase A activity of beta1-bungarotoxin from Bungarus multicinctus venom. II. Identification of the histidine residue of beta1-bungarotoxin modified by p-bromophenacyl bromide.

beta1-Bungarotoxin modified with p-bromophenacyl bromide (BPB) was reduced and carboxymethylated, and the resulting two constituent RCM-polypeptide chains (the RCM-A and B chains) were separated. The RCM-A chain was found to be modified by BPB by measuring its UV absorption spectrum and was shown to have lost one histidine residue by analyzing its amino acid composition. To determine the location of the modified histidine residue in the A chain of the toxin, the RCM-A chain was digested with TPCK-trypsin, and the resulting peptides were fractionated by gel filtration followed by DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The modified residue was finally identified as histidine-48 in the A chain by Edman degradation and from the amino acid composition of the BPB-modified peptide. The amino acid sequence around the modified histidine residue in the A chain is highly homologous with those of porcine pancreas phospholipase A2 and presynaptic toxin, notexin. We conclude that histidine-48 in the A chain participates in the phospholipase A activity of beta1-bungarotoxin.