It has long been found that hyaluronidases exist in a variety of organisms, playing their roles in various biological processes including infection, envenomation and metabolic regulation through degrading hyaluronan. However, exploiting them as a bioresource for specific applications had not been extensively studied until the latest decades. In recent years, new application scenarios have been developed, which extended the field of application, and emphasized the research value of hyaluronidase. This critical review comprehensively summarizes existing studies on hyaluronidase from different source, particularly in their structures, action patterns, and biological functions in human and mammals. Furthermore, we give in-depth insight into the resource mining and protein engineering process of hyaluronidase, as well as strategies for their high-level production, indicating that mixed strategies should be adopted to obtain well-performing hyaluronidase with efficiency. In addition, advances in application of hyaluronidase were summarized and discussed. Finally, prospects for future researches are proposed, highlighting the importance of further investigation into the characteristics of hyaluronidases, and the necessity of investigating their products for the development of their application value.

长期以来，人们发现透明质酸酶存在于多种生物体中，通过降解透明质酸在感染、毒液进入和代谢调节等多种生物过程中发挥作用。然而，直到最近几十年，才对将它们作为特定应用的生物资源进行广泛研究。近年来开发了新的应用场景，拓展了应用领域，强调了透明质酸酶的研究价值。这篇批判性综述全面总结了现有的来自不同来源的透明质酸酶研究，特别是它们在人类和哺乳动物中的结构、作用模式和生物学功能。此外，我们深入了解透明质酸酶的资源挖掘和蛋白质工程过程，以及其高水平生产的策略，表明应采用混合策略以高效地获得性能良好的透明质酸酶。此外，对透明质酸酶的应用进展进行了总结和讨论。最后提出了未来的研究展望，强调了进一步研究透明质酸酶特性的重要性，以及对其产品进行研究以开发其应用价值的必要性。