Structural and pharmacological features of phospholipases A2 from snake venoms.

Phospholipases A(2) enzymes are found in many biological sources, including snake venoms. Here we reviewed aspects of PLA(2)s including biological and structural features, interaction with binding receptors, inhibitors used on structure-function relationship studies and highlighting the mechanism of action and role of the snake venom PLA(2)s products, the lysophosphatidylcholine.