In the present work, we demonstrate some biochemical and functional properties of a new PI snake venom metalloproteinase (SVMP) isolated from Bothrops pauloensis snake venom (BpMP-II), in addition we evaluated its capacity to inhibit endothelial cell adhesion and in vitro angiogenesis. BpMP-II was purified after a combination of three chromatography steps and showed molecular mass of 23,000 Da determined by MALDI-TOF, an isoelectric point of 6.1 and the sequence of some fragments obtained by MS/MS (MALDI TOF\TOF) presented high structural similarity with other PI-SVMPs. BpMP-II showed proteolytic activity against azocasein, was able to degrade bovine fibrinogen and was inhibited by EDTA, 1.10 phenantroline and β-mercaptoethanol. BpMP-II did not induce local hemorrhage in the dorsal region of mice even at high doses and did not affect plasma creatine kinase (CK) levels when administered intramuscularly into the gastrocnemius muscle of mice. Moreover, this metalloproteinase decreased tEnd cells viability at concentrations higher than 20 μg/mL. With sub-toxic doses this metalloproteinase affected tEnd cell adhesion and was also able to inhibit in vitro angiogenesis. BpMP-II showed very important functional properties suggesting considerable therapeutic potential for this class of protein.
Keywords: Angiogenesis inhibition; Bothrops pauloensis; Endothelial cells; Matrigel; Metalloproteinase; Snake venom.
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