The partial cDNA of the MT-c clone encoding snake venom metalloprotease was subcloned and expressed in E. coli. The expressed metalloprotease was purified by affinity chromatography in the presence of urea, and then successfully refolded into its functional form, retaining metalloprotease activity that hydrolyzes fibrinogen. The simple and convenient refolding strategy established in this work was highly efficient in recovering the recombinant enzyme activity. Experimental evidence suggests that the C-terminal amino acid stretch of 16 residues is a critical sequence for proper folding of the metalloprotease domain.