A novel natriuretic peptide from the cobra venom

Natriuretic peptides (NPs) play crucial roles in human physiology and pathophysiology through natriuresis, dieresis and vasorelaxation. NPs are also one of the important components of snake venoms. However, the low abundance in snake venom hampered the investigation. Here, a novel natriuretic peptide named Na-NP was purified from the cobra Naja atra venom. Na-NP consists of 45 amino acid residues and its molecular weight is 4618.5 Da. A full-length cDNA encoding Na-NP was obtained from the cDNA library constructed from the venom gland. The open reading frame of cloned Na-NP was composed of 498 bp and coded for a 165-amino acid residue protein precursor. The nucleotide and deduced protein sequences of Na-NP were remarkably conserved with other elapid NPs while significant different from the viperid NPs. Na-NP showed weak activity to relax the aortic rings precontracted with phenylephrine. Meanwhile, Na-NP showed cGMP-promotion activity against primary cultured rabbit endocardial endothelial cells, but had no effect on human platelet aggregation. In conclusion, this is the first report of a natriuretic peptide from the cobra N. atra venom. Na-NP might be served as a useful tool for the study of human NPs and the development of novel therapeutic drugs.