昆明动物所”百人计划”获得者赖仞研究员领导的团队通过对牛虻唾液腺分泌物中蛋白质和多肽的结构和药理功能进行系统的研究，发现了多种的抗血栓、抗血液凝固的多肽和蛋白质，免疫调节多肽以及抗菌多肽。从寄主与宿主相互作用的角度解释了牛虻成功从其宿主获得血液的分子机制。
更为重要的是，他们的研究揭示了虻虫(牛虻的中药材名称为虻虫)作为重要传统抗血栓中药的分子机制，并发现了多种作用于血液系统和免疫系统、具有潜在药用价值的先导结构分子。该研究结果为虻虫的中药现代化研究打下了坚实的基础和提供了新思路。
12月17日，国际著名刊物《分子细胞蛋白质组学》(Molecular cellular proteomics)接受并同时在网上发表了其研究论文：《牛虻唾液腺的蛋白质组学结合药理分析解读牛虻成功吸血的分子机制》(Toward an understanding of the molecular mechanism for successfully blood-feeding by proteomics analysis coupling with pharmacological testing of horse fly salivary glands)。两名审稿人给予了高度评价，他们认为“该研究工作是一项杰作”(This is an outstanding “tour de force” work)。（昆明动物研究所）
原始出处:
Molecular cellular proteomics
Submitted on October 12, 2007
Revised on December 17, 2007
Accepted on December 17, 2007
Toward an understanding of the molecular mechanism for successfully blood-feeding by proteomics analysis coupling with pharmacological testing of horse fly salivary glands
Xueqing Xu, Hailong Yang, Dongying Ma, Jing Wu, Yipeng Wang, Yuzhu Song, Xu Wang, Yi Lu, Junxing Yang, and Ren Lai
Biotoxin Department, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223
Corresponding Author: rlai@mail.kiz.ac.cn
Horseflies are economically important blood-feeding arthropods and also nuisance for humans, and vectors for filariasis. They rely heavily on pharmacological propriety of their saliva to get blood meal and suppress immune reactions of hosts. Little information is available on antihaemostatic substances in horsefly salivary glands; especially no horsefly immune suppressants have been reported. By proteomics or peptidomics and transcriptome analysis coupling with pharmacological testing, several families of proteins or peptides, which act mainly on haemostatic system or immune system of the host, have been identified and characterized from 30, 000 pairs salivary glands of the horsefly of Tabanus Yao (Diptera, Tabanidae). They are: () a novel family of inhibitors of platelet aggregation including two members, which possibly inhibit platelet aggregation by a novel mechanism and act on platelet membrane, () a novel family of immunosuppressant peptides including twelve members, which can inhibit interferon- production and increase interleukin-10 secretion, () a serine protease inhibitor with 56 amino acid residues containing anticoagulant activity, () a serine protease with anticoagulant activity, () a protease with fibrinogenolytic activity, () three families of antimicrobial peptides including six members, () a hyaluronidase, () a vasodilator peptide, which is a isoform of vasotab identified from Hybomitra bimaculata, () interestingly, two metallothioneins, which are the first report of metallothioneins from invertebrate salivary glands. The current works will facilitate to understand the molecular mechanisms of the ectoparasite-host relationship, and help in identifying novel vaccine targets and novel leading pharmacological compounds.
