Horseshoe crabs: biomedical importance and its potential use in developing health-care products.

Abstract

Horseshoe crabs have been a model for many biomedical science studies. Medicinal value of horseshoe crabs comes from its blue blood, eye and exoskeleton (chitin). Ability of blood to clot in the presence of bacteria, rendering the bacteria harmless has created its biomedical importance. Blood cells (amebocytes) carry Factor C, which binds lipopolysaccharide (LPS), undergoes a structural reorganization, then auto-proteolytically activates itself to initiate the clotting pathway that eventually results in a proteolytic modification of the zymogen, coagulogen, which then self-polymerizes into the insoluble fibrils of the extracellular blood clot. Blood-clotting ability of the horseshoe crab makes it very valuable in testing for injectable medicines, vaccines and sterile medical equipment. Secondly, the nerve pathways in the eyes of horseshoe crabs have led to many discoveries in human eye research. Furthermore, the outer shell of a horseshoe crab is made primarily of chitin and being used as a coating for suture material and burn dressings, rapidly increases the wound healing, cutting the time by half.