Comparative Transcriptomics of Three Hirudo Species

RNA-seq of laser-microdissected salivary cells and muscle from three Hirudo species (H. medicinalis, H. orientalis, H. verbana), with proteomic validation of the salivary cell secretion and a draft H. medicinalis genome. Differential expression analysis found 102, 174 and 72 salivary-cell transcripts in the three species respectively, grouped into 25 orthologous clusters shared by all three species (44 shared by at least two). Proteomics identified 189 (H. medicinalis), 86 (H. orientalis) and 344 (H. verbana) proteins in the secretion, with 39 orthologous clusters shared by all three species. Well-known anticoagulants such as hirudin, bdellins, eglins, saratins and destabilases were not differentially expressed between salivary cells and muscle.

Explore how this research connects to clinical practice

More peer-reviewed studies in Genomics & Proteomics.

• Leech Salivary Proteome and Transcriptome: 434 Deduced Protein Sequences — Liu Z, Tong X, Su Y, et al. (2019)
• Medicinal Leech Draft Genome — Anticoagulant Gene Survey — Kvist S, Manzano-Marín A, de Carle D, Trontelj P, Siddall ME (2020)
• Leech therapy (Hirudo medicinalis) attenuates testicular damages induced by testicular ischemia/reperfusion in an animal model — Davoodi F et al. (2021)
• New anticoagulant protein from medicinal leech — Manuvera V et al. (2024)
• AIF-1 and RNASET2 Play Complementary Roles in the Innate Immune Response of Medicinal Leech — Baranzini N et al. (2019)
• Medicinal leech antimicrobial peptides lacking toxicity represent a promising alternative strategy to combat antibiotic-resistant pathogens — Grafskaia E et al. (2019)
• Structural insights into thrombolytic activity of destabilase from medicinal leech — Marin E et al. (2023)
• The genome of medicinal leech (Whitmania pigra) and comparative genomic study for exploration of bioactive ingredients — Tong L et al. (2022)
• Medicinal Leech CNS as a Model for Exosome Studies in the Crosstalk between Microglia and Neurons — Raffo-Romero A et al. (2018)
• Transcriptomic profiling and the first spatial expression analysis of candidate genes in the salivary gland of the East Asian medicinal leech, Hirudo nipponia — Kim J et al. (2024)

Browse all ASH-analysed research →