Citation

McCleary RJ, Kini RM. Thromb. Res. 2013; 132(6): 642-646.

Affiliation

Protein Science Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117543.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.thromres.2013.09.031

PMID

24125598

Abstract

Snake venom toxins have evolved to affect many prey physiological systems including hemostasis and thrombosis. These toxins belong to a diverse array of protein families and can initiate or inhibit multiple stages of the coagulation pathway or platelet aggregation with incredible specificity. Such specificity toward vertebrate molecular targets has made them extremely useful for diagnosis of human diseases or as molecular scalpels in physiological studies. The large number of yet-to-be characterized venoms provides a vast potential source of novel toxins and subsequent cardiovascular therapeutics and diagnostic agents.

Language: en