Comparative study of hirustasin superfamily gene expression in two medicinal leeches

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Leeches constitute a pharmacologically significant animal group in traditional medicine due to their antithrombotic peptides, which include numerous members of the hirustasin gene superfamily. However, a comparative expression profile of this pharmaceutically important family across different leech species is lacking. METHODS: This study conducted a comparative transcriptomic analysis of hirustasin gene superfamily expression in the hematophagous leech Hirudinaria manillensis and the non-hematophagous leech Whitmania pigra. RESULTS: The total expression of the hirustasin gene superfamily, quantified as transcripts per million (TPM), showed no significant difference (p = 0.237) between H. manillensis (11,802.60 ± 1596.59) and W. pigra (8623.12 ± 965.96). However, both species exhibited pronounced intergenic expression heterogeneity. Five dominantly expressed genes (TPM > 1000) in H. manillensis and three in W. pigra were identified, collectively comprising 81% and 62% of the total hirustasin gene superfamily expression per species, respectively. Critically, the dominantly expressed genes exhibited no phylogenetic correspondence between species. Integrating expression profiles with phylogenetic reconstruction identified five high-potential candidate genes: poecistasin_Hman2, hirustasin_like_Hman01, hirustasin_like_Hman11, guamerin_Wpig, and bdellastasin_Wpig. Population-level analysis revealed marked population-specific expression patterns in H. manillensis, contrasting with minimal inter-population divergence in W. pigra. Nevertheless, geographically distinct populations of both species showed significant variation in the expression of their respective dominantly expressed genes. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide a set of high-priority candidate genes and insights into their expression characteristics, serving as a starting point for subsequent functional validation and, when integrated with other screening methods, for future antithrombotic drug discovery.

Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.

Comparative gene-expression study of hirustasin superfamily in two medicinal-leech species characterizing tissue-specific bioactive-compound expression patterns.

Leech-derived molecules this paper discusses, each with a full profile in the ASH compound registry:

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