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Cobra Venom Phospholipase A2

The Indian Cobra
The most prominent features of the Indian Cobra (Naja naja naja) are the wide black band on the underside of the neck and the distinctive hood marking on top of neck. Colouring varies form black or dark brown to yellowish white.
Indian Cobra (Naja naja naja)
The snake bite symptoms are predominantly neurotoxic and begin approximately 8 minutes after bite affecting mainly the muscles of the eyes, tongue, throat and chest, leading to respiratory failure.
 

Studies on Cobra Venom
We began our studies of Phospholipase A2 on the enzyme purified from the venom of this type of snake. Over the last 25 years, we have extensively characterized this enzyme kinetically and structurally. We have used this enzyme as a model for our studies of PLA2 and its role in eicosanoid production and phospholipid remodeling in cells involved with inflammation, parturition, and neural function.

 
 
Cobra Venom Phospholipase A2 with a Phospholipid Bound in Its Catalytic Site.
  
 
This is a rendering of the cobra venom PLA2 showing a single phospholipid bound in the active site. The structure of the enzyme was obtained from our x-ray crystal studies of the cobra venom enzyme [Fremont et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 90, 342-346 (1993) and Segelke et al. J. Mol. Biol. 279, 223-232 (1998)]. The docking of the phospholipid and molecular dynamics studies were done on our Silicon Graphics work station.
     
  
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