The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D (vitD) supplementation may prolong remission in Crohn's disease (CD); however, the clinical efficacy and mechanisms are unclear. AIM: To determine changes in intestinal permeability (IP), antimicrobial peptide (AMP) concentratio…
Smoking-induced lung diseases were extremely rare prior to the 20th century. With commercialization and introduction of machine-made cigarettes, worldwide use skyrocketed and several new pulmonary diseases have been recognized. The majority of pulmon…
Adjunctive vitamin D treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis enhances resolution of inflammation but has modest effects on bacterial clearance. Sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA) is in clinical use for a range of conditions and has been shown to synergise wi…
The underlying cause of neutropenia may be difficult to determine due to similar clinical presentation in many neutropenic conditions. The neutrophil protein hCAP-18 (pro-LL-37) is a major component of neutrophil secondary granules and in this prospe…
Antimicrobial peptides of the epithelium play a significant role in the innate immune response in the oral cavity, which is constantly exposed to microbes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a highly prevalent metabolic disease which is related to pe…
Toad Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor is still used in China as traditional Chinese medicine. However, present investigations on its skin secretions were mainly focused on the bufadienolides, the proteins/peptides contained in the secretions are largely…
OBJECTIVES: To compare changes in vitamin D status and cathelicidin (LL-37) levels in septic ICU patients treated with placebo versus cholecalciferol. DESIGN: Randomized, placebo-controlled, trial. SETTING: Medical and surgical ICUs of a single teach…
The pleiotropic activity of human cathelicidin LL-37 peptide includes an ability to suppress development of colon cancer cells. We hypothesized that the anticancer activity of LL-37 would improve when attached to the surface of magnetic nanoparticles…
BACKGROUND: There is no appropriate in vivo animal model that reflects the inflammatory response of human acne. OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the effect of Propionibacterium acnes on the development of inflammatory acne-like lesions in four mous…
Natural selection, the most important force in evolution, comes in three forms. Negative purifying selection removes deleterious variation and maintains adaptations. Positive directional selection fixes beneficial variants, producing new adaptations.…
BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are an important defense mechanism of the innate immune system and can modulate the course of various diseases. However, their significance during liver pathogenesis is currently not well defined. METHODS: Pat…
INTRODUCTION: Decreased production of cathelicidin antimicrobial protein-18 (hCAP18) has been proposed to be a key mechanism linking decreased 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25D) levels with adverse outcomes among critically ill patients. However, few studies…
Lung cysteine cathepsins B, K, L, and S contribute to physiological and pathological processes including degradation of antimicrobial peptides/proteins (AMPs) such as surfactant protein SP-A, lactoferrin, secretory leukocyte peptidase inhibitor, and…
Cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) represent a crucial component of the innate immune system in vertebrates. Although widely studied in mammals, little is known about the structure and function of fish CAMPs. Further to the previous findings…
Pseudomonas aeruginosa Liverpool epidemic strain (LES) infections in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are associated with transmissibility and increased patient morbidity. This study was designed to assess the in vitro activities of cathelicidin LL-37 p…
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death, disease, and disability worldwide. It is well established that cigarette smoke provokes inflammatory activation and impairs antimicrobial functions of human immune cells. Here we explore wh…
Bacterial proteases are important virulence factors that inactivate host defense proteins and contribute to tissue destruction and bacterial dissemination. Outer membrane proteases of the omptin family, exemplified by Escherichia coli OmpT, are found…
The aim of the present study was to characterize intestinal immune mechanisms involved in the response to β-glucans in rainbow trout. Among the immune effectors regulated in response to immunostimulants, host defense peptides (HDPs) are abundantly ex…
Hosts' innate defense systems are upregulated by antimicrobial peptide elicitors (APEs). Our aim was to investigate the effects of hyperthermia, ultraviolet A rays (UVA), and ultraviolet C rays (UVC) as well as glucose and ascorbic acid (AA) on the r…
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective mechanisms evoked by TLR2 and MyD88 signaling in bacterial endophthalmitis in vivo. METHODS: Endophthalmitis was induced in wild-type (WT), TLR2(-/-), MyD88(-/-), and Cnlp(-/-) mice…