A serine proteinase with a fibrinogenase activity was isolated from the venom of viper Echis multisquamatis. Isolation was performed by the combination of Q-sepharose and Heparine-agarose chromatography. The enzyme has apparent molecular weight 35 ± 1 kDа. It posesses strong fibrinogen β-chain, moderate αchain proteolytic activity, arginine-amidase activity as the majority of serine fibrinogena...

This study examined the effect of Echis pyramidum (EP) venom on time-course of lipid peroxidation in different vital organs of mice. Adult male Swiss albino mice were injected with EP venom (2 mg/kg, i.p.); control mice received vehicle alone (normal saline). Mice were killed at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 h post-envenomation. The liver, lung, kidney, heart, and brain (cerebrum and cerebellum) were col...

The angiopoietin (ANGPT)-TIE2/TEK signaling pathway is essential for blood and lymphatic vascular homeostasis. ANGPT1 is a potent TIE2 activator, whereas ANGPT2 functions as a context-dependent agonist/antagonist. In disease, ANGPT2-mediated inhibition of TIE2 in blood vessels is linked to vascular leak, inflammation, and metastasis. Using conditional knockout studies in mice, we show TIE2 is p...

THE solutions of fibrinogen, thrombin and sodium chloride employed in these experiments contained about 0 5 % of tri-sodium citrate. As source of fibrinogen human plasma was ordinarily used, being prepared by mixing 12 cc. of blood, immediately after withdrawal from a vein of the forearm, with 1 cc. of 0-85 % sodium chloride solution to which 013 g. sodium citrate had been added. After centrifu...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Leaks of the blood-brain barrier can be detected on postcontrast-enhanced T1-weighted MRIs. Although early disruptions of the blood-brain barrier appear to be an important risk factor for tissue plasminogen activator-related hemorrhages in rodents, little is known about their incidence and consequences in human stroke. METHODS This is a retrospective analysis of a prosp...

Phylogenetic analysis of 1117 bp of mitochondrial DNA sequences (731 bp of cytochrome b and 386 bp of 16S rRNA) indicate that Echis consists of four main clades: E. ocellatus, and the E. coloratus, E. pyramidum, and E. carinatus groups. In the E. coloratus group, E. coloratus itself shows substantial genetic divergence from E. omanensis, corroborating their separate species status. In the E. py...

Nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome b and 16S rRNA genes, totaling 946 bp, were used to reconstruct a molecular phylogeny of 42 species of the subfamily Viperinae representing 12 of the 13 recognized genera. Maximum-parsimony and maximum-likelihood were used as methods for phylogeny reconstruction with and without a posteriori weighting. When representatives of the Causinae were ta...

AIM To purify the platelet aggregation inhibitor from Echis multisquamatis snake venom (PAIEM) and characterize its effect on platelet aggregation and HeLa cell proliferation. METHODS Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) were used for PAIEM identification. Platelet aggregation in the pre...

A. S. TODD (Department of Pathology, The University of Dundee) It has been shown that the activator of plasminogen in tissue is concentrated in the endothelium of blood vessels, especially that of veins and venules (Todd, 1959). Recently, by modifying the time and temperature of incubation (4°C for 24 to 48 hours), the histological technique for identifying plasminogen activator ('fibrinolysis ...