Phosphodiesterases Bothrops sp.: Purification, enzymatic characterization and crystal structure determination

• Grant number: 13/01397-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: May 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Molecular Biophysics
• Principal Investigator: Raghuvir Krishnaswamy Arni
• Grantee: Anwar Ullah
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Snake venoms interfere with the functioning and regulation of numerous essential biological processes such as, signal transmission at neuromuscular junctions, inflamatory reactions, hemmostasis, renal lesions, platelet aggregation and may cause destruction of muscle fibers. They also serve as model systems for the development of new molecules potentially useful for clinical and medical trials.The phosphodiesterases present in the venoms of some Bothrops species result in the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds in nucleic acids both in single and double stranded DNA and in RNA.These proteins generally makeup less than 1% of the dry venom weight and are thus, poorly studied.In this proposal, we aim to purify, crystallize and determine the three-dimensional structure of this protein to understand its mechqanism of action and role in envenomation.