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Abstract
Thrombin-like enzymes are one of the most important groups of enzymes present in snake venom with potential for clinical therapeutic use. The enzymes catalyze the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin, usually similar, but not identical, to thrombin. The knowledge of their substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism has guided the development of reagents to perform coagulation tests in specimens of blood that contain heparin, and studies about their application as defibrinogenating agents in chronic and acute diseases, such as stroke, deep-vein thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and peripheral arterial thrombosis. This update will focus on the current status of snake venom thrombin-like enzymes using a perspective gained from those enzymes with structures that have been studied in detail.