Research Advance in the Functional Substance in the Horseshoe Crab

The invertebrate horseshoe crab(Tachypleus tridentatus),an anthropod,relies completely on innate immunity,employing a unique and very efficient host defense system.The horseshoe crabs,known as living fossils,have maintained their morphology almost unchanged for the past 150 million years.Horseshoe crab is one of evolution's success stories.These living fossils have contributed immensely to biomedical research,its hemolymph contains a lot of functional substance,such as coagulation factors Factor C,B and G;Protease inhibitors;Lectins;Antimicrobial substances.In the paper those functional substance's structure and their function were summarized.The study would be beneficial to the potential antimicrobial medicament and the evolution of the invertebrate animal.