COBRA properties

Yang, Chen-Chung. "Crystallization and Properties of the Cobrotoxin from Formosan Cobra Venom." The Journal of Biological Chemistry 240 (1965) 1616-18. 

Table 13.1 Molecular weight (MW) and lipophIIIcity (clogP) of sets of ligands taken from the COBRA compound collection [9], Average, maximum and minimum values, and standard deviations (a) are given. Properties were calculated with the software suite ChemOffice (CambridgeSoft Corp., Cambridge MA).

Figure 6.24 Some of the most common atom-based scaffolds exclusively found in a database search of druglike compounds (COBRA), pure natural products (PNP), and marine natural products (MNP). (Grabowski, K., Schneider, G. Properties and architecture of drugs and natural products revisited. Curr. Opin Chem. Biol 2007, 1, 115-127.)...

One of the pillars upon which rests the prevailing theory of the chemical mediation of nerve impulses is the uniqueness, in conducting tissue, of the enzyme that hydrolyzes acetylcholine. The characteristics of acetylcholinesterase that distinguish it from the other cholinesterases are as follows (1) A small Km when acetylcholine is the substrate. (2) Inhibition of the hydrolysis of acetylcholine by the substrate so that when the velocity is plotted against substrate concentration a bell-shaped curve results. (3) A rate of hydrolysis that is greatest with acetylcholine, less with propionylcholine, and the least with butyrylcholine. None of these properties is shared by the other cholinesterases. Acetylcholinesterase occurs, however, not only in conducting tissue but also in erythrocytes and cobra venom. The distribution of cholinesterases has been reviewed by Augustinsson. ... 

B. Cobra Venom Factor (CVF). Because CVF activates an anti-complementary factor C3 without the presence of antibody, the injection of CVF to a person will activate the anticomplementary system and reduce the factors. This property is extensively used in organ transplantation. A person pretreated with CVF has a better chance of receiving an organ without rejection. 

Yang, C. C. (1965) Crystallization and properties of cobrotoxin from Formosan cobra venom. J. Biol. Chem. 240 1616-1618. 

M. C. O Keefe, L. H. Caporale, and C.-W. Vogel A novel cleavage product of human complement component C3 with structural and functional properties of cobra venom factor. 1988. J. Biol. Chem. 263, 12690-12697. 

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