Preliminary crystallographic study of an acidic phospholipase A2 from Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra)

An acidic phospholipase A(2) (OH APLA(2)-II) with an isoelectric point (pI) of 4.0 was recently isolated from Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) from Guangxi province, China. Comparison of this enzyme to a previously reported homologous phospholipase A(2) from the same venom shows that it lacks toxicity and exhibits a greater phospholipase activity. OH APLA(2)-II has been crystallized by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method using 1,6-hexanediol and magnesium chloride as precipitants. The crystal belongs to space group P6(3), with unit-cell parameters a = b = 98.06, c = 132.39 A. The diffraction data were collected under cryoconditions (100 K) and reduced to 2.1 A resolution. A molecular-replacement solution has been determined and shows that there are six molecules in one asymmetric unit.