Hementin is an anticoagulant protease (fibrinogen lytic enzyme) from the salivary glands of the giant Amazon leech (Haementeria ghilianii).
Hementin is a calcium-dependent protease with a molecular weight of 80–120 kDa, and it contains 39 amino acid sequences.
The secretion of hementin is limited to the lumen of the proboscis, which the Amazon leech inserts into the host to suck blood.
[citation needed] The processes of blood anticoagulation by hementin includes the degradation of fibrinogen.
[2] It is capable of disrupting the function of fibrinogen, a glycoprotein responsible for blood clotting, by cleaving three peptide bonds in its structure.