Biological properties of the venom from the scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri) and purification of a gelatinolytic protease

Abstract In this work we describe some biological properties and a partial biochemical characterization of the Scorpanea plumieri crude venom. The fresh venom induced a decrease in blood pressure, cardiac and respiratory frequency, and exhibited hemorrhagic, hemolytic and proteolytic activities. The LD 50 (i.v. mouse) was 0.28 mg/kg. The pharmacological activities were found to be very unstable and this fact could be associated with proteolytic activity. Enzymes which hydrolyze casein and gelatin were found in this venom. A gelatinolytic protease (Sp-GP) was purified to homogeneity from S. plumieri venom through a combination of three chromatographic steps: gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200; ion exchange on DEAE-cellulose and reverse-phase/HPLC on a Vydac C4 column. The purified protease was approximately 2% of the whole protein in the soluble crude venom. The molecular mass of the Sp-GP scorpionfish gelatinase estimated by SDS-PAGE was around 80,000 Da under reducing conditions and 72,000 Da under non-reducing conditions. Attempts to determine the N-terminal sequence by automatic Edman degradation were unsuccessful, probably due to blockage of the N-terminal group. Gelatinolytic activity was optimal at pH 7–8. This is the first report of the isolation and characterization of a scorpionfish venom protease.