6 and 2.8, respectively. Defibrinating activity was tested using the method of Gene (Gene et al., 1989), with slight modifications. Briefly, four Swiss mice (18–20 g) were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with 50 μg of moojenin dissolved in 200 μL of saline buffer; control animals received only 200 μL of saline buffer. After 1 h, animals were sacrificed by an overdose of ketamine/xylazine and bled by cardiac puncture. Whole blood was placed in tubes and kept at 25–30 °C until clotting occurred. Hemorrhagic activity was determined by the method of Nikai et al. (1984). In

this method, different doses of moojenin (5–50 μg) were injected subdermically into the dorsum of Swiss mice (20–25 g). After 3 h the animals were AZD0530 ic50 sacrificed, the skins were removed, and the area of hemorrhage on the underside of the skin was measured. To evaluate systemic effects, the experimental animals (n = 4) were Ibrutinib chemical structure injected i.p. with 50 μg of moojenin dissolved in sterile saline (50 μL). The myotoxic activity was evaluated by intramuscular injection of moojenin (50 μg/50 μL sterile saline) in the gastrocnemius muscle of mice. A control

group received 50 μL of sterile saline under identical conditions. After 24 h, mice were euthanized by an overdose of ketamine/xylazine and the heart, lung, liver, kidney and gastrocnemius muscle were dissected out. For histological analysis, tissues were placed in 10% formaldehyde and processed routinely for embedding in paraffin. Thick sections (5 μm) were prepared and stained with hematoxylin–eosin (HE) for light microscopic observation. Since the 60′s, Nahas and colleagues have shown that Bothrops venoms coagulate plasma either via direct action on fibrinogen or via activation of factors II and X ( Nahas et al., 1964). In this work, we describe the isolation see more and partial characterization of a fibrinogenolytic metalloproteinase with coagulant activity from B. moojeni venom. Fractionation of crude B. moojeni venom (400 mg) by ion-exchange chromatography on a DEAE-Sephacel column produced eight major protein peaks named D1 to D8 ( Fig. 1A). The main coagulant

activity was detected in fractions D3 and D7 (data not shown). The D7 fraction was further fractionated over a Sephacryl S-300 column ( Fig. 1B). This chromatographic procedure was able to isolate a fibrinogenolytic enzyme, which was named moojenin. Non-reducing SDS-PAGE indicated that the moojenin showed a high degree of purity and consisted of a single polypeptide chain of about 45 kDa ( Fig. 1B1), corresponding to the mass range of other PIII SVMPs (37–75 kDa) ( Terra et al., 2009). Afterward, the moojenin was submitted to SDS-PAGE under reducing conditions, presenting a single band of about 30 kDa ( Fig. 1B1, line 3). Furthermore, the degree of purity of the isolated moojenin was verified by reverse-phase FPLC on a C2/C18 column, disclosing a single peak ( Fig. 1C).