• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.10-23
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• 2007

A new disintegrin protein named saxatilin was purified from Korean snake venom (Gloydius saxatilis). Saxatilin is a 73 residue small ploypeptide, which has a primary recognition motif in extracellular matrix, Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) sequence. Data from inhibition activity assay for the ${\alpha}_v{\beta}_3$ integrin showed that saxatilin showed about 5000-fold higher activity than those of RGD peptides, suggesting that RGD sequence may not be sufficient to induce full cellular function of this site. The solution structures calculated from NMR data were well converged for backbone atoms except RGD loop. The structure revealed that most of tight turns are stabilized by medium range NOE contacts and the RGD motif is located far from the rigid core of the C-terminal domain. The three-dimensional fold and biological function of saxatilin are discussed with those of salmosin, which is a disintegrin protein derived from Agkistrodon halys brevicaudus.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.113-120
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• 2000

Herpetofauna biodiversity was surveyed at the Chin-do. The results are as follows: During census periods presence of 2 orders, 4 families, 6 species of amphibians and 1 order, 2 suborders, 4 families, 8 species of reptiles were observed or found indirectly by auditorial recording from residents at the Chin-do. Among them 1 protected wildlife(Agkistrodon saxatilis) and several rare species such as Takydromus wolteri, Sciucella laterale laterale and Zamenis spinalis were indentified. Rana nigromaculata and Rana catesbeiana were found in all surveyed areas. Dominant amphibian species was Rana rugosa (D'= 25.8%) and reptile was Takydromus wolteri (D'= 21.8%). Among 4 areas survey area, Uisin-myon showed the highest level of species richness, diversity, and evenness indices (R'= 2.393, H'= 1.931, and E'= 0.7772, respectively). The species richness of Kunnae-myon was lower (R'= 0.932) than other surveyed regions. Based on the frequency of occurrence (85.71%), habitation density of Rana catesbeiana was very common in Chin-do, suggesting that spreading of this foreign species in the entire Korean peninsula. Scincella laterale laterale, Elaphe dione, Elaphe rufodorsata, Dinodon rufozonatus rufozonatus, Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus, Agkistrodon ussuriensis, and Zamenis spinalis showed low frequency of occurrence ( < 10%) and efforts to protect them are required. [Herpetofauna, Bio-diversity, Chin-Do].

• The Korean Journal of Zoology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.79-84
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• 1976

$M_4$-LDH isozyme was partially purified from the skeletal muscle of Agkistrodon blomhoffii brevicaudus. The protein was injected into rabbits and the resulting antiserum was tested for reactivity with crude preparations of LDH isozymes of fifteen vertebrate species. Antisera against $M_4$-LDH isozyme of A. blomhoffii brevicaudus reacted very strongly with the LDH isozymes, except the $H_4$-LDH isozyme, of A. saxatilis and A. caliginosus but weakly with those of Rhabdophis tigrinus at fixed conditions. A. caliginosus showed a difference in the immunodiffusion test and was considered to be a species less related to others of genus Agkisrodon. The suggestion that the H and M lactate dehydrogenase subunits are immunclogically distinct has been reaffirmed in the present study.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.181-185
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• 2016

Human sparganosis is a zoonotic disease caused by infection with larval forms (procercoid/plerocercoid) of Spirometra spp. The purpose of this study was to identify Spirometra spp. of infected snakes using a multiplex PCR assay and phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data from the spargana of terrestrial snakes obtained from Korea and China. A total of 283 snakes were obtained that included 4 species of Colubridae comprising Rhabdophis tigrinus tigrinus (n=150), Dinodon rufozonatum rufozonatum (n=64), Elaphe davidi (n=2), and Elaphe schrenkii (n=7), and 1 species of Viperidae, Agkistrodon saxatilis (n=60). The snakes were collected from the provinces of Chungbuk, Chungnam, and Gyeongbuk in Korea (n=161), and from China (n=122). The overall infection rate with spargana was 83% (235/283). The highest was recorded for D. rufozonatum rufozonatum (100%), followed by A. saxatilis (85%) and R. tigrinus tigrinus (80%), with a negative result for E. davidi (0%) and E. schrenkii (0%). The sequence identities between the spargana from snakes (n=50) and Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (KJ599680) or S. decipiens (KJ599679) control specimens were 90.8% and 99.2%, respectively. Pairwise genetic distances between spargana (n=50) and S. decipiens ranged from 0.0080 to 0.0107, while those between spargana and S. erinaceieuropaei ranged from 0.1070 to 0.1096. In this study, all of the 904 spargana analyzed were identified as S. decipiens either by a multiplex PCR assay (n=854) or mitochondrial cox1 sequence analysis (n=50).

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.145-153
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• 1986

For the inactivation of venoms, the chemical methods are generally applied. In the chemical method many works have been carried out with the chemical reagents and immunological antiserums. However, all inhibitory effect of these chemicals acting on snake venomes may well be due not to the specific, but to the nonspecific inhibitory action. Therefore, it is necessary to separate venom into its compositional active proteins and develop specific inhibitor which acts on the each protein. Until now, there have not been any reports about the substance which acts on snake venom as a specific inhibitor. Recently in 1979, we had actually isolated a specific venom inhibitor(ISV) which has a strong inhibitory activity against the proteinase of snake venom of Colubridae. In our experiments described here, a strain of Aspergillus sp., isolated from soil, was able to produce a biological active substance. The partial crystallized substance had a strong inhibitory activity against hemorrhagic action of snake venom of Colubridae. For the inhibitory action of the sample on the lethality of venom, the substance prevented completely the lethal action of the hemorrhagic factor when they were treated with enough amount of the substance. The edema factor of whole venom of Agristrodon bromohoffi brevicaudus was completely inhibited, but those of HR-I and HR-II of Trimeresurus flavoviridis venom were inhibited about 50%, when they were treated with the substance of half amount of venom. On the other hand, from the result of subcutaneous hemorrhage in a rabbit, it was concluded that two kinds of antihemorrhagic substance might be produced by the strain used in this work.