Chemists discovered how the viper venom works
Thursday, June 8, 2017 - 07:32
in Biology & Nature
Russian scientists report that the enzyme phospholipase A2 from the Vipera nikolskii venom is able to adhere to lipid membranes and cause their aggregation, even if the activity of the enzyme is specifically blocked. This is due to the presence of two binding sites in the enzyme structure. Published in the journal Toxicon, the results help to understand how multicomponent snake venoms work.