Abstract:

Snake venoms could lead to the development of new drugs to treat a range of life-threatening conditions like cardiovascular diseases. Most snake venoms contain a large variety of lethal toxins as well as anti-adhesive proteins such as disintegrins, which have evolved from the harmless compounds ADAMs (proteins with a disintegrin and a metalloprotease domain) and C-type lectin proteins which disturb connective tissue and cell-matrix interaction. These anti-adhesive proteins target and block integrin receptors and disrupt normal biological processes in snakes' prey such as connective tissue physiology and blood clotting. This chapter provides the experimental details of a practical, cell-based adhesion protocol to help identify and isolate disintegrins and C-type lectin proteins from snake venoms, important tools in integrin research and lead compounds for drug discovery.