Chemical Studies of Formosan Cobra (Naja naja atra) Venom. Part I. Chromatographic Separation of Crude Venom on CM‐Sepadex and Preliminary Characterization of its Components

The crude venom of Formosan cobra (Naja naja atra) was separated into 12 fractions by CM‐Sephadex (C‐50) chromatography with ammonium acetate buffer by two‐stage gradient elution. Fr. I was proved to be a mixture of nucleotides and nucleosides. The toxicity was found in Fr. VIII (neurotoxic), X (cardiotoxic), XI (cardiotoxic), and XII (cardiotoxic). Glycerophosphatase, alkaline phosphomonoesterase, and 5′‐nucleotidase were found in Fr. III, V and IX, respectively. Phosphodiesterase was distributed in Frs. VI and VII, while lecithinase‐A (phospholipase‐A) was found in Frs. IV and V. Frs. VIII, IX and XII seem to be homogenous by the n‐terminal analysis and the paper electrophoresis.