The Chemistry of Snake Venom

Snake venoms are some of the most complex multifunctional mixtures of pharmacologically active proteins and polypeptides interfering in various physiological systems (Kini, 1997). They have been studied extensively for many years in search of the molecular basis of toxicity, have provided important biological tools to investigate vital physiological processes, and even have been used as therapeutic agents (Koh and Kini, 2012).

It is inconceivable that some of the most toxic components of the snake venoms are phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes, for they also have extremely important biochemical role in physiological processes such as maintenance of membrane homeostasis, membrane repair, cell proliferation, inflammation, signal transduction, etc. Snake PLA2enzymes provoke diverse pharmacological effects: neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, anticoagulant effects, hemolytic activity, hemorrhage, organ, or tissue damage (Kini, 1997). There has been a burst in the available data on PLA2 superfamily of enzymes, changing our understanding of the structure–function relationshipby revealing completely new interactions, new effects, and new challenges to scientists (Kini, 1997, 2003, 2006; Six and Dennis, 2000; Murakami and Kudo, 2002, 2004; Wilton and Waite, 2002; Schaloske and Dennis, 2006; Dennis et al., 2011).

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