Purification and characterization of two platelet-aggregation inhibitors, named angustatin and H-toxin TA2, from the venom of Dendroaspis angusticeps

Angustatin and H-toxin TA2 were purified from unfractionated Dendroaspis angusticeps venom (0.3 g) using S-Sepharose fast flow column chromatography, gelfiltration on a Sephadex G-50 column, and reverse-phase HPLC. The purified materials strongly inhibited ADP-induced platelet aggregation. The primary structure of angustatin was determined by the Edman degradation of peptides derived from digestions with endopeptidese Arg-C and α-chymotrypsin. Angustatin, which was composed of 59 amino acid residues and an RGD sequence, was identified as a short-length inhibitor similar to mambin, dendroaspin, echistatin, and eristicophin. Angustatin shared 83%, 17%, and 15% homologies with mambin, eristicophin, and echistatin, respectively. On the other hand, H-toxin TA2 did not conserve the RGD sequence in its structure; it was replaced for the Glu-Met-Leu sequence. Furthermore, the amino acid sequence of H-toxin TA2 corresponded to toxin TA2, excluding the amino acid residue of His28Arg.