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Giovanna Traina - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Ribosomal RNA characterization in the leech Hirudo medicinalis.
    Archives Italiennes De Biologie, 2008
    Co-Authors: Monica Macchi, Mauro Durante, Rodolfo Bernardi, Giovanna Traina
    Abstract:

    In the present study the ribosomal RNA of the leech Hirudo medicinalis has been characterized at the aim of identifying possible analogies with other invertebrates. Upon electrophoresis on denaturating gels, ribosomal RNA fraction of H. medicinalis exhibited a remarkable thermal instability at variance with the behavior of the rat rRNA, which did not dissociate into its two hydrogen-bonded components when heated at 60°C.

  • Ribosomal RNA characterization in the leech Hirudo medicinalis.
    Archives italiennes de biologie, 2008
    Co-Authors: Monica Macchi, Mauro Durante, Rodolfo Bernardi, Giovanna Traina
    Abstract:

    In the present study the ribosomal RNA of the leech Hirudo medicinalis has been characterized at the aim of identifying possible analogies with other invertebrates. Upon electrophoresis on denaturating gels, ribosomal RNA fraction of H. medicinalis exhibited a remarkable thermal instability by dissociating into two hydrogen-bonded components when heated at 60 degrees C, at variance with the behaviour of the rat rRNA, which does not show this process. This result suggests a functional role in leech ribosome organisation that requires deeper structural studies.

  • Nonassociative learning in the leech Hirudo medicinalis.
    Behavioural Brain Research, 2001
    Co-Authors: M L Zaccardi, Giovanna Traina, E Cataldo, M Brunelli
    Abstract:

    In the present study we examined nonassociative learning of the induction of swimming which was evoked by weak electrical stimulation in the leech Hirudo medicinalis. The behavioural response to stimuli applied repeatedly to the body wall at an inter-trial interval (ITI) of 1 min decreased, eventually ceased, and then recovered spontaneously. More rapid reduction of the behavioural response occurred in repeated training sessions. This decrement of response conformed to the operational definition of habituation. Moreover, a noxious stimulus (i.e. brushing on the skin) facilitated the decremented response (dishabituation). In addition, we compared response decrement in naive animals with decrement in dishabituated and in sensitized animals. The analysis of the best fitting functions of the habituation, the habituation of dishabituation and the habituation of sensitization revealed interesting differences in these processes.

Anastasia S. Nikitina - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Draft genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and salivary transcriptome of three closely related medicinal leeches
    BMC Genomics, 2020
    Co-Authors: Vladislav V. Babenko, Dmitriy A. Shirokov, Valentin A. Manuvera, Alexey S. Kurdyumov, Oleg V. Podgorny, Artem S. Kasianov, Alexander I. Manolov, Ekaterina N. Grafskaia, Dmitriy V. Vinogradov, Anastasia S. Nikitina
    Abstract:

    Background Salivary cell secretion (SCS) plays a critical role in blood feeding by medicinal leeches, making them of use for certain medical purposes even today. Results We annotated the Hirudo medicinalis genome and performed RNA-seq on salivary cells isolated from three closely related leech species, H. medicinalis, Hirudo orientalis , and Hirudo verbana . Differential expression analysis verified by proteomics identified salivary cell-specific gene expression, many of which encode previously unknown salivary components. However, the genes encoding known anticoagulants have been found to be expressed not only in salivary cells. The function-related analysis of the unique salivary cell genes enabled an update of the concept of interactions between salivary proteins and components of haemostasis. Conclusions Here we report a genome draft of Hirudo medicinalis and describe identification of novel salivary proteins and new homologs of genes encoding known anticoagulants in transcriptomes of three medicinal leech species. Our data provide new insights in genetics of blood-feeding lifestyle in leeches.

  • Draft mitochondrial genomes of Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana (Annelida, Hirudinea).
    Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 2016
    Co-Authors: Anastasia S. Nikitina, Vladislav V. Babenko, Tatyana A. Akopian, Dmitriy A. Shirokov, Valentin A. Manuvera, Alexey S. Kurdyumov, Elena S. Kostryukova, Vassili N. Lazarev
    Abstract:

    AbstractHere we present two incomplete mitochondrial genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana (Annelida, Hirudinea). The corresponding sequences are 14,729 and 14,604 base pairs in length. They contain all mitochondrial genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and two rRNAs) but lack the non-coding region. Nevertheless, the robust reconstruction of their phylogenetic relationships presented here reveals distinct separation of both leeches from other annelids and at the same time relatively high dissimilarity between each other.

Vladislav V. Babenko - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The Hirudo medicinalis Microbiome Is a Source of New Antimicrobial Peptides.
    International journal of molecular sciences, 2020
    Co-Authors: Ekaterina N. Grafskaia, Vladislav V. Babenko, E. R. Pavlova, Ivan Latsis, Maja V. Malakhova, Victoria N. Lavrenova, Pavel Bashkirov, Dmitrii Belousov, Dmitry V. Klinov, Vassili N. Lazarev
    Abstract:

    Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered a promising new class of anti-infectious agents. This study reports new antimicrobial peptides derived from the Hirudo medicinalis microbiome identified by a computational analysis method applied to the H. medicinalis metagenome. The identified AMPs possess a strong antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (MIC range: 5.3 to 22.4 μM), including Staphylococcus haemolyticus, an opportunistic coagulase–negative pathogen. The secondary structure analysis of peptides via CD spectroscopy showed that all the AMPs except pept_352 have mostly disordered structures that do not change under different conditions. For peptide pept_352, the α–helical content increases in the membrane environment. The examination of the mechanism of action of peptides suggests that peptide pept_352 exhibits a direct membranolytic activity. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that the nontoxic peptide pept_1545 is a promising candidate for drug development. Overall, the analysis method implemented in the study may serve as an effective tool for the identification of new AMPs.

  • Draft genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and salivary transcriptome of three closely related medicinal leeches
    BMC Genomics, 2020
    Co-Authors: Vladislav V. Babenko, Dmitriy A. Shirokov, Valentin A. Manuvera, Alexey S. Kurdyumov, Oleg V. Podgorny, Artem S. Kasianov, Alexander I. Manolov, Ekaterina N. Grafskaia, Dmitriy V. Vinogradov, Anastasia S. Nikitina
    Abstract:

    Background Salivary cell secretion (SCS) plays a critical role in blood feeding by medicinal leeches, making them of use for certain medical purposes even today. Results We annotated the Hirudo medicinalis genome and performed RNA-seq on salivary cells isolated from three closely related leech species, H. medicinalis, Hirudo orientalis , and Hirudo verbana . Differential expression analysis verified by proteomics identified salivary cell-specific gene expression, many of which encode previously unknown salivary components. However, the genes encoding known anticoagulants have been found to be expressed not only in salivary cells. The function-related analysis of the unique salivary cell genes enabled an update of the concept of interactions between salivary proteins and components of haemostasis. Conclusions Here we report a genome draft of Hirudo medicinalis and describe identification of novel salivary proteins and new homologs of genes encoding known anticoagulants in transcriptomes of three medicinal leech species. Our data provide new insights in genetics of blood-feeding lifestyle in leeches.

  • Draft mitochondrial genomes of Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana (Annelida, Hirudinea).
    Mitochondrial DNA Part B, 2016
    Co-Authors: Anastasia S. Nikitina, Vladislav V. Babenko, Tatyana A. Akopian, Dmitriy A. Shirokov, Valentin A. Manuvera, Alexey S. Kurdyumov, Elena S. Kostryukova, Vassili N. Lazarev
    Abstract:

    AbstractHere we present two incomplete mitochondrial genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and Hirudo verbana (Annelida, Hirudinea). The corresponding sequences are 14,729 and 14,604 base pairs in length. They contain all mitochondrial genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs and two rRNAs) but lack the non-coding region. Nevertheless, the robust reconstruction of their phylogenetic relationships presented here reveals distinct separation of both leeches from other annelids and at the same time relatively high dissimilarity between each other.

Ekaterina N. Grafskaia - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • The Hirudo medicinalis Microbiome Is a Source of New Antimicrobial Peptides.
    International journal of molecular sciences, 2020
    Co-Authors: Ekaterina N. Grafskaia, Vladislav V. Babenko, E. R. Pavlova, Ivan Latsis, Maja V. Malakhova, Victoria N. Lavrenova, Pavel Bashkirov, Dmitrii Belousov, Dmitry V. Klinov, Vassili N. Lazarev
    Abstract:

    Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered a promising new class of anti-infectious agents. This study reports new antimicrobial peptides derived from the Hirudo medicinalis microbiome identified by a computational analysis method applied to the H. medicinalis metagenome. The identified AMPs possess a strong antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (MIC range: 5.3 to 22.4 μM), including Staphylococcus haemolyticus, an opportunistic coagulase–negative pathogen. The secondary structure analysis of peptides via CD spectroscopy showed that all the AMPs except pept_352 have mostly disordered structures that do not change under different conditions. For peptide pept_352, the α–helical content increases in the membrane environment. The examination of the mechanism of action of peptides suggests that peptide pept_352 exhibits a direct membranolytic activity. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity assay demonstrated that the nontoxic peptide pept_1545 is a promising candidate for drug development. Overall, the analysis method implemented in the study may serve as an effective tool for the identification of new AMPs.

  • Draft genome sequences of Hirudo medicinalis and salivary transcriptome of three closely related medicinal leeches
    BMC Genomics, 2020
    Co-Authors: Vladislav V. Babenko, Dmitriy A. Shirokov, Valentin A. Manuvera, Alexey S. Kurdyumov, Oleg V. Podgorny, Artem S. Kasianov, Alexander I. Manolov, Ekaterina N. Grafskaia, Dmitriy V. Vinogradov, Anastasia S. Nikitina
    Abstract:

    Background Salivary cell secretion (SCS) plays a critical role in blood feeding by medicinal leeches, making them of use for certain medical purposes even today. Results We annotated the Hirudo medicinalis genome and performed RNA-seq on salivary cells isolated from three closely related leech species, H. medicinalis, Hirudo orientalis , and Hirudo verbana . Differential expression analysis verified by proteomics identified salivary cell-specific gene expression, many of which encode previously unknown salivary components. However, the genes encoding known anticoagulants have been found to be expressed not only in salivary cells. The function-related analysis of the unique salivary cell genes enabled an update of the concept of interactions between salivary proteins and components of haemostasis. Conclusions Here we report a genome draft of Hirudo medicinalis and describe identification of novel salivary proteins and new homologs of genes encoding known anticoagulants in transcriptomes of three medicinal leech species. Our data provide new insights in genetics of blood-feeding lifestyle in leeches.

H Kerl - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Multiple pseudolymphomas caused by Hirudo medicinalis therapy.
    Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2000
    Co-Authors: J Smolle, L Cerroni, H Kerl
    Abstract:

    Therapy with medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) is now frequently applied in plastic surgery and in the management of chronic venous insufficiency. We observed a patient in whom firm, brown-red, pea-sized papules developed at each site where leeches had been applied on the lower legs. Histology, immunohistology, and molecular analysis of T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement proved these lesions to be follicular pseudolymphomas.

  • Multiple pseudolymphomas caused by Hirudo medicinalis therapy.
    Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2000
    Co-Authors: J Smolle, L Cerroni, H Kerl
    Abstract:

    Therapy with medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) is now frequently applied in plastic surgery and in the management of chronic venous insufficiency. We observed a patient in whom firm, brown-red, pea-sized papules developed at each site where leeches had been applied on the lower legs. Histology, immunohistology, and molecular analysis of T-cell receptor and immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement proved these lesions to be follicular pseudolymphomas. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2000;43:867-9.)