Beyond Fang's fury: a computational study of the enzyme-membrane interaction and catalytic pathway of the snake venom phospholipase A₂ toxin.

ABSTRACT: Snake venom-secreted phospholipases A₂ (svPLA₂s) are critical, highly toxic enzymes present in almost all snake venoms. Upon snakebite envenomation, svPLA₂s hydrolyze cell membrane phospholipids and induce pathological effects such as paralysis, myonecrosis, inflammation, or pain. Despite its central importance in envenomation, the chemical mechanism of svPLA₂s is poorly understood, with detrimental consequences for the design of small-molecule snakebite antidotes, which is highly undesirable given the gravity of the epidemiological data that ranks snakebite as the deadliest neglected tropical disease. We study a member of the svPLA₂ family, the Myotoxin-I, which is part of the venom of the Central American pit viper terciopelo (Bot

SUBMITTER: Castro-Amorim J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11694569 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature