Expression and Biochemical Characterization of Acidic Phospholipase A(2)I from Agkistrodon acutus

A cDNA encoding acidic phospholipase A(2)I(A.aAPLA(2)I)from Agkistrodon acutus was inserted into a bacterial expression vector and effectively expressed in E.coli RR1. The protein was produced as insoluble inclusion bodies. After partial purification by washing the inclusion bodies with Triton X-100, denaturing and refolding, the renatured recombinant protein was purified by FPLC column Superose(TM)12. The enzymatic acti-vity and platelet aggregation inhibiting effect of the expressed A.aAPLA(2)I is close to those of denatured-refolded native acidic PLA(2) from Agkistrodon halys Pallas, and has the same hemolytic activity as denatured-refolded basic phospholipase A(2) from Agkistrodon halys Pallas. The roles of various amino acid residues in the enzymatic activity and pharmacological activities of phospholipase A2 are discussed.