The AVIT protein family

Homologues of a protein originally isolated from snake venom and frog skin secretions are present in many vertebrate species. They contain 80–90 amino acids, 10 of which are cysteines with identical spacing. Various names have been given to these proteins, such as mamba intestinal protein 1 (MIT1), Bv8 ( Bombina variegata molecular mass ∼8 kDa), prokineticins and endocrine‐gland vascular endothelial growth factor (EG‐VEGF). Their amino‐terminal...