Short tail stories: the hirudin-like factors HLF6 and HLF7 of the Asian medicinal leech, Hirudinaria manillensis.

Christian Müller, Chantal Eickelmann, Dana Sponholz, Jan-Peter Hildebrandt

Open access · hybridAbstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Parasitology research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 37% of its field

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

The great diversity: monomeric and oligomeric hirudins, hirudin-like factors and decorsins in the Asian medicinal leeches Hirudo nipponia and Hirudo tianjinensis.Parasitology research · 2026
Article

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Christian MüllerAnimal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 1, 17489, Greifswald, Germany. christian.mueller@uni-greifswald.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1929-1728

Chantal EickelmannAnimal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 1, 17489, Greifswald, Germany.

Dana SponholzAnimal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 1, 17489, Greifswald, Germany.

Jan-Peter HildebrandtAnimal Physiology and Biochemistry, Zoological Institute and Museum, University of Greifswald, Felix-Hausdorff-Str. 1, 17489, Greifswald, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7827-8481

Universität Greifswald · DEUniversitätsmedizin Greifswald · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The leech-derived hirudins and hirudin-like factors (HLFs) share a common molecule structure: a short N-terminus, a central globular domain, and an elongated C-terminal tail. All parts are important for function. HLF6 and HLF7 were identified in the Asian medicinal leech, Hirudinaria manillensis. The genes of both factors encode putative splice variants that differ in length and composition of their respective C-terminal tails. In either case, the tails are considerably shorter compared to hirudins. Here we describe the functional analyses of the natural splice variants and of synthetic variants that comprise an altered N-terminus and/or a modified central globular domain. All natural splice variants of HLF6 and HLF7 display no detectable thrombin-inhibitory potency. In contrast, some synthetic variants effectively inhibit thrombin, even with tails as short as six amino acid residues in length. Our data indicate that size and composition of the C-terminal tail of hirudins and HLFs can vary in a great extent, yet the full protein may still retain the ability to inhibit thrombin.

Indexed as

Hirudo medicinalisLeechesAmino Acid SequenceAnimalsHirudinsThrombinHirudinsThrombinBlood coagulationHirudinHirudin-like factorsMedicinal leeches

Identifiers

PMID34599360

DOI10.15252/msb.20199208

PMCPMC8516769

OpenAlexW3202805256

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.