The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
Cathelicidins, a family of host defense peptides, are highly expressed during infection, inflammation and wound healing. These peptides not only have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities, but also modulate inflammation by altering cytokine respons…
The human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide acts as an effector molecule of the innate immune system with direct antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects. The aim of this study was to test whether the cathelicidin LL-37 modulates the response of n…
Campylobacter jejuni is a highly prevalent human pathogen for which pathogenic and stress survival strategies remain relatively poorly understood. We previously found that a C. jejuni strain 81-176 mutant defective for key virulence and stress surviv…
The mechanisms behind target vs. host cell recognition of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 remain ill-defined. Here, we have investigated the membrane disruption capacity of LL-37 using large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) composed of varying mixtu…
Antimicrobial peptides are predominantly small cationic polypeptides that are classified together on the basis of these molecules to directly kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms including mycobacteria, and to activate mechanisms of cellular…
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The discovery of increasing numbers of epithelial antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), cytokines that specifically induce AMPs in epithelial cells, and mechanisms of its regulation point toward a central role of the keratinocyte as effec…
Cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs), a component of the mammalian immune system, protect the host from bacterial infections. The roles of the Escherichia coli transcriptional regulators MarA, SoxS and Rob in susceptibility to these peptides were…
Mast cells are emerging as contributors to innate immunity. Mouse mast cells have a pivotal role in protection against bacterial infection, and human cord blood-derived mast cells reduce bacterial viability in culture. The objectives of this study we…
This work investigates the discrimination of lipid monolayers by the ovine antimicrobial peptide SMAP-29 and compares it to that of the human LL-37 peptide. Fluid phospholipid monolayers were formed in a Langmuir trough and subsequently studied with…
Francisella infects the lungs causing pneumonic tularemia. Focusing on the lung's host defense, we have examined antimicrobial peptides as part of the innate immune response to Francisella infection. Interest in antimicrobial peptides, such as the ca…
Antimicrobial peptides play an important role in host defense against pathogens. Recently, phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) from Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) were shown to interact with lipid membranes, form complexes, and exert antimicr…
Skin wounds usually heal without major infections, although the loss of the mechanical epithelial barrier exposes the tissue to various bacteria. One reason may be the expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) of which some [human beta-defensins (hB…
Streptococcal inhibitor of complement (SIC) is a highly polymorphic extracellular protein and putative virulence factor secreted by M1 and M57 strains of group A Streptococcus (GAS). The sic gene is highly upregulated in invasive M1T1 GAS isolates fo…
Haemophilus ducreyi is an extracellular pathogen of human epithelial surfaces that resists human antimicrobial peptides (APs). The organism's genome contains homologs of genes sensitive to antimicrobial peptides (sap operon) in nontypeable Haemophilu…
Over the past decade, interest has grown in the role of vitamin D in many nonskeletal medical conditions, including respiratory infection. Emerging evidence indicates that vitamin D-mediated innate immunity, particularly through enhanced expression o…
The immune system in teleosts is not completely developed during embryonic and larval stages and immune competence is assumed to be restricted. This study is the first to address whether immune transcripts are maternally transferred to offspring and…
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are important components of our first line of defense. Induction of AMPs such as LL-37 of the cathelicidin family might provide a novel approach in treating bacterial infections. In this study we identified 4-phenylbutyr…
BACKGROUND: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-transgenic mice develop psoriasiform plaques that resemble human psoriasis, demonstrating that VEGF is an important factor in the development of psoriasis. In human keratinocytes, VEGF is regulate…
BACKGROUND: Bovine tuberculosis is a highly prevalent infectious disease of cattle worldwide; however, infection in the United States is limited to 0.01% of dairy herds. Thus detection of bovine TB is confounded by high background infection with M. a…