Summary
The origin and evolution of venom toxins is a mystery that has evoked much interest.
We have recently shown that pseutarin C, a prothrombin activator from Pseudonaja textilis venom, is structurally and functionally similar to mammalian coagulation factor Xa
– factor Va complex. Its catalytic subunit is homologous to factor Xa while the nonenzymatic
subunit is homologous to factor Va. P.textilis therefore has two parallel prothrombin activator systems: one expressed in its venom
gland as a toxin and the other expressed in its liver and released into its plasma
as a haemostatic factor. Here we report the complete amino acid sequence of factor
V (FV) from its liver determined by cDNA cloning and sequencing. The liver FV shows
96% identity to pseutarin C nonenzymatic subunit. Most of the functional sites involved
in its interaction with factor Xa and prothrombin are conserved. However, many potential
sites of post-translational modifications and one critical cleavage site for activated
protein C are different. The absence of the latter cleavage site makes pseutarin C
nonenzymatic subunit resistant to inactivation and enhances its potential as an excellent
toxin. By PCR and real-time quantitative analysis, we show that pseutarin C nonenzymatic
subunit gene is expressed specifically in the venom gland at ~280 fold higher than
that of FV gene in liver. These two are thus encoded by two separate genes that express
in a highly tissue-specific manner. Our results imply that the gene encoding pseutarin
C nonenzymatic subunit was derived by the duplication of plasma FV gene and they have
evolved to perform distinct functions.
Keywords
Coagulation factor V - gene duplication -
Pseudonaja textilis
- venom toxin evolution