Abstract:
OBJECTIVE To isolate and characterize some properties of the chromatographically pure low molecular weight polypeptides from the venom of Guangdong cobra (
Naja naja atra). METHODS Isolation and purification were carried out by chromatography on Sephadex G-50 and UND Sphere S column after the pretreatment by chemical precipitation. The purity of this product was determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and HPLC, and its molecular weight was observed by SDS-PAGE and mass spectrography. The cardiotoxicity of the polypeptides was investigated using the frog heart perfusion experiment. RESULTS After the chemical precipitation and Two-step column chromatography, the products, named ‘GI2’ and ‘GI3’, were single components. The molecular weight of GI2 is 14 300 Da observed by SDS-PAGE and GI3 is 6 725.8 Da determined by mass spectrography. The yields of the products were 9.5% and 10.1%, and only GI2 showed cardiotoxicity. CONCLUSION Two low molecular weight components could be obtained from the venom of Guangdong cobra after chemical precipitation and two-step column chromatographies, with high yield.