Diversity of hirudin and hirudin-like factor genes in the North-African medicinal leech, Hirudo troctina.

ABSTRACT: Medicinal leeches of the genus Hirudo inhabit large areas of the Palaearctic realm. The distribution range of Hirudo troctina includes the southern Iberian peninsula and the northwestern regions of Africa. H. troctina is used for medical purposes, but only very little is known about the components of its salivary gland secretion. Hirudins, bivalent inhibitors of thrombin, are probably the best known leech-derived bioactive factors. Hirudin-like factors (HLFs) represent another class of salivary gland components that share characteristic genetic and structural markers with hirudins. Hirudin is not a single entity but exists in at least four different variants. However, there are differences among the European members of the genus Hirudo with respect to the actual number of hirudin and HLF g

SUBMITTER: Ahmed RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11564256 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature