Disease relevance of Hirudo medicinalis

• Enhancement of recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator thrombolysis with a selective factor Xa inhibitor derived from the leech Hirudo medicinalis: comparison with heparin and hirudin in a rabbit thrombosis model [1].
• In order to investigate the principles of protein thermostability, the crystal structure of thermitase from Thermoactinomyces vulgaris, a thermostable member of the subtilisin family of serine proteases, has been determined in a complex with eglin c. Eglin c is a serine protease inhibitor from the leech Hirudo medicinalis [2].

High impact information on Hirudo medicinalis

• Characterization of a homologue of bithorax-complex genes in the leech Hirudo medicinalis [3].
• Retzius cells of Hirudo medicinalis were cultivated on extracellular matrix protein so that extended arborizations were formed [4].
• Calin from Hirudo medicinalis, an inhibitor of von Willebrand factor binding to collagen under static and flow conditions [5].
• To gain insight into the mechanisms of rPTP-mediated outgrowth guidance, we have investigated the role of HmLAR2, a Hirudo medicinalis homologue of DLAR, in process outgrowth [6].
• The sequences of Hirudo medicinalis synaptobrevin and synaptosomal-associated protein of 25 kDa (SNAP-25), deduced by cDNA cloning, are 61 and 55% identical, respectively, to their corresponding mammalian homologs [7].

Biological context of Hirudo medicinalis

• Repetitive treatment with serotonin modifies protein synthesis and protein phosphorylation in the central nervous system of Hirudo medicinalis [8].
• To study the functions of netrins in the relatively simple and easily accessible nervous system of the leech Hirudo medicinalis, we have cloned a leech netrin and have characterized its expression during embryogenesis [9].
• The effects of 100 mumol l-1 serotonin (5-HT) were investigated on the Na+- and Ca2+-dependent action potential and distinct K+ currents in the Retzius (R) cells of the hirudinid leeches Macrobdella decora and Hirudo medicinalis by conventional current-clamp and two-microelectrode voltage-clamp techniques [10].
• For this purpose, we used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify putative protein kinase catalytic domain cDNAs from the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis [11].
• Sequence analysis of a newly isolated Hirudo medicinalis cDNA containing an Antennapedia (Antp)-class homeobox suggests that the corresponding gene, Lox6, is an ortholog of the Drosophila Deformed (Dfd) gene [12].

Anatomical context of Hirudo medicinalis

• We have measured ratio signals of the calcium indicator dye fura-2, injected into giant glial cells of the leech Hirudo medicinalis, as response to kainate (5-20 microM) in the presence of different divalent cations [13].
• Thus, we used an antibody highly specific to octopamine to examine the distribution of octopamine-immunoreactive neurons in the segmental ganglia of American and European medicinal leeches (Macrobdella decora and Hirudo medicinalis) [14].
• Thermal and chemical stimuli known to promote ingestive behaviours in the medicinal leech Hirudo medicinalis were tested for their physiological effects on Retzius neurones and for their biochemical effects on serotonin levels in the central nervous system, pharynx and body wall [15].
• A myomodulin peptide has been suggested to mediate the response of the giant glial cells to stimulation of the Leydig interneuron in the central nervous system of the leech Hirudo medicinalis [Eur. J. Neurosci. 11 (1999) 3125] [16].
• The effects of triethyltin (TET) have been examined using intracellular electrophysiological recording techniques from identified neurons of the leech (Hirudo medicinalis) CNS and from salivary glands of the giant Amazon leech (Haementeria ghilianii) [17].

Associations of Hirudo medicinalis with chemical compounds

• Retzius cells and the cutaneous baroreceptive P-cells of adult medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) respond to 5-HT by Cl- as well as by monovalent cation conductances (Drapeau et al., 1989) [18].
• A single injection of 100 micrograms reserpine into the crop of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, reduced CNS serotonin and dopamine levels to less than 1% of control values within 3 d [19].
• For instance, the amide NH groups of most residues in the binding loop of eglin c, a potent serine proteinase inhibitor from the leech Hirudo medicinalis, are H-bonded to the carbonyl groups of residues in the target enzyme molecules such as chymotrypsin, elastase and subtilisins [20].
• In Retzius neurones of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, kainate activates ionotropic glutamate receptors classified as AMPA/kainate receptors [21].
• Activation of AMPA/kainate receptors but not acetylcholine receptors causes Mg2+ influx into Retzius neurones of the leech Hirudo medicinalis [21].

Gene context of Hirudo medicinalis

• In this study the role of VEGF in neovessel formation is investigated in Hirudo medicinalis [22].
• Mapping the contested leech (Hirudo medicinalis) CBR sequence suggests that it encodes a functional CB1; it expresses fewer substitutions than the sea squirt (Ciona intestinalis) CB1 sequence [23].
• Purified vWF bound to non-digested collagen VI with moderately high affinity (EC50 approximately 5 nM) and could be inhibited by the Hirudo medicinalis collagen inhibitor calin [24].
• Eglin c is an elastase/cathepsin G inhibitor from leech Hirudo medicinalis [25].
• Association of LAR-like receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases with an enabled homolog in Hirudo medicinalis [26].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Hirudo medicinalis

• We have studied the response of identified neurones of the leech Hirudo medicinalis to the purinoceptor agonist ATP, ADP, AMP, and adenosine using conventional intracellular microelectrodes and whole-cell patch-clamp recording [27].
• 2. We dissected 6 longitudinal samples from the ventral nerve cords of hungry Hirudo medicinalis, and measured their serotonin content using high pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection [28].
• Cerebrosides were isolated from the leech species, Hirudo medicinalis, and purified to homogeneity by silicic acid chromatography, followed by preparative thin-layer chromatography [29].

References