一種有毒的靈長類動物可以幫助我們理解為什么有些人對貓過敏

一種有毒的靈長類動物可以幫助我們理解為什么有些人對貓過敏

Big-eyed and puppy-sized, slow lorises may look just like a cuddly pet but they're actually equipped with a deadly weapon – venom. This toxin makes the slow loris the world’s only venomous primate, and genetic sequencing of its properties is helping researchers to understand why people are allergic to cats.

大眼睛、小狗般大小的懶猴看起來就像可愛的寵物，但它們實際上裝備了致命武器——毒液。這種毒素使懶猴成為世界上唯一一種有毒的靈長類動物，對其特性進(jìn)行基因排序有助于研究人員理解為什么人們會對貓過敏。

Slow lorises have highly specialized brachial glands, a hair-free swelling found on the elbow that produces a strong-smelling fluid. When threatened, a slow loris will raise its arms over its head to bring both glands toward the mouth. A quick lick of the glands turns saliva venomous. The venomous bite from a slow loris will prevent wounds from healing over a long period of time, eventually leading to necrosis, septicemia, lung edema, and cellulitis.

懶猴有高度特化的臂腺，肘部無毛腫脹，產(chǎn)生強(qiáng)烈氣味的液體。當(dāng)受到威脅時，懶猴會將手臂舉過頭頂，將兩個腺體都帶到嘴邊?？焖偬蛞幌峦僖合?，唾液就有毒了。被懶猴有毒的咬傷會使傷口在很長一段時間內(nèi)無法愈合，最終導(dǎo)致壞死、敗血癥、肺水腫和蜂窩織炎。

Several species of slow lorises are critically endangered. Sainam51/Shutterstock

“Generally slow lorises use their venom to fight with other slow lorises, causing very slow-to-heal wounds. But, when humans are bitten, the victim will display symptoms as if they’re going into allergic shock,” said the University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Bryan Fry in a statement.

“一般來說，慢懶猴會用它們的毒液和其他慢懶猴打斗，導(dǎo)致傷口愈合非常慢。但是，當(dāng)人類被咬傷時，受害者會表現(xiàn)出過敏休克的癥狀，”昆士蘭大學(xué)副教授布萊恩·弗萊在一份聲明中說。

Despite their unique defensive tactic, slow lorises (Nycticebus javanicus) remain a “mystery to science”. To fill in some of the gaps, Fry obtained gland secretions from wild slow lories studied at an Indonesian ecological research center over the course of two years. DNA sequencing of the samples revealed a protein found in the brachial gland that presented “remarkable” similarities to proteins present in cat dander. In fact, the two were virtually identical.

盡管它們有獨特的防御策略，慢懶猴仍然是“科學(xué)之謎”。為了填補一些空白，魚苗從野生小鱈魚身上獲取腺體分泌物，這些小鱈魚在印度尼西亞的一個生態(tài)研究中心進(jìn)行了兩年的研究。對樣本進(jìn)行DNA測序后發(fā)現(xiàn)，在臂腺中發(fā)現(xiàn)的一種蛋白質(zhì)與貓皮屑中的蛋白質(zhì)有“顯著”的相似性。事實上，兩者幾乎完全相同。

“Cats secrete and coat themselves with this protein, and that’s what you react to if you’re allergic to them,” said Fry, adding that if slow lorises use the protein as a defensive mechanism it may come as no surprise that cats do as well. “The fact that so many people are allergic to cats mightn’t be a coincidence. This may have been evolutionarily selected for in the wild as a defense against predators.”

“貓分泌這種蛋白質(zhì)并將其覆蓋起來，如果你對它們過敏，這就是你的反應(yīng)。 我一點也不驚訝貓也這么做。“這么多人對貓過敏的事實可能不是巧合。這可能是在進(jìn)化過程中被挑選出來的，作為對公共關(guān)系的防御 ”

Though it is a claim that will require further investigation, the researchers say that it could be that the two animals separately evolved to carry the protein, a process known as convergent evolution whereby two organisms that are not closely related evolve similar traits as an adaptation to their environment. Allergenic proteins likely play a role in the “defensive arsenal” of endangered slow lorises and cats as well as other mammals that exhibit the venomous traits, including platypuses, vampire bats, and water shrews. Together, these defense mechanisms may have evolved over time to “hijack” a victim’s immune system.

雖然研究人員聲稱,將需要進(jìn)一步的調(diào)查,可能是兩只動物分別進(jìn)化的蛋白質(zhì),這一過程稱為趨同進(jìn)化,不密切相關(guān)的兩種生物進(jìn)化出相似的特征作為適應(yīng)他們的環(huán)境。致敏蛋白可能在瀕危的懶猴、貓以及其他表現(xiàn)出有毒特征的哺乳動物(包括鴨嘴獸、吸血蝙蝠和水鼩)的“防御武器庫”中發(fā)揮作用?？傊?，這些防御機(jī)制可能隨著時間的推移進(jìn)化成“劫持”受害者的免疫系統(tǒng)。