Composition of Salivary Gland Extracts from the Leech Haementeria ghilianii

Abstract
The giant leech, H. ghilianii, originating from French Guyana, has 2 pairs of salivary glands. From the anterior and posterior glands, .apprx. 1.5 and 0.3 mg of protein per leech, respectively, were extracted. Electrophoretic analysis showed that the protein composition of the anterior and posterior gland extracts is completely different. Both gland extracts contain fibrinolytic activity associated with only 1 electrophoretic band. The fractionation of salivary gland homogenates by differential ultracentrifugation showed that the fibrinolytic activity is found entirely in the cytosol fraction.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: