The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
LL-37 is a cationic host defense peptide that is highly expressed during acute inflammation and that kills bacteria by poorly defined mechanisms, resulting in permeabilization of microbial membranes. High concentrations of LL-37 have also been report…
During inhalational anthrax, Bacillus anthracis survives and replicates in alveolar macrophages, followed by rapid invasion into the host's bloodstream, where it multiplies to cause heavy bacteremia. B. anthracis must therefore defend itself from hos…
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: LL-37 is the only member of the cathelicidin family of host defence peptides expressed in humans. It is primarily produced by phagocytic leucocytes and epithelial cells, and mediates a wide range of biological responses: direct kil…
Methods for increasing the proteolytic stability of EFK17 (EFKRIVQRIKDFLRNLV), a new peptide sequence with antimicrobial properties derived from LL-37, were evaluated. EFK17 was modified by four d-enantiomer or tryptophan (W) substitutions at known p…
PURPOSE: Three familial cases of each of severe congenital neutropenia (SCN) and cyclic neutropenia (CN) in addition to 3 sporadic cases of SCN were analyzed for neutrophil elastase (Ela2) gene mutation. The contents of the neutrophil-specific granul…
We found that the global regulatory two-component signal transduction system CovRS mediates the ability of group A streptococcus (GAS) to grow under two stresses encountered during infection: iron starvation and the presence of LL-37. We also showed…
Antimicrobial effector mechanisms are central to the function of the innate immune response in host defense against microbial pathogens. In humans, activation of Toll-like receptor 2/1 (TLR2/1) on monocytes induces a vitamin D dependent antimicrobial…
The antimicrobial peptide database (APD, http://aps.unmc.edu/AP/main.php) has been updated and expanded. It now hosts 1228 entries with 65 anticancer, 76 antiviral (53 anti-HIV), 327 antifungal and 944 antibacterial peptides. The second version of ou…
The human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37 is involved in various aspects of skin biology, including protection against infection, wound healing, and also in psoriasis. The tight regulation of apoptosis is critical in tissue repair and its de…
LL-37 is a human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide that is released in the skin after injury and acts to defend against infection and modulate the local cellular immune response. We observed in human dermal keloids that fibrosis was inversely relate…
The human cathelicidin LL-37 displays both direct antibacterial activities and the capacity to modulate host-cell activities. These depend on structural characteristics that are subject to positive selection for variation, as observed in a previous a…
Factor H-binding protein (fHBP; GNA1870) is one of the antigens of the recombinant vaccine against serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis, which has been developed using reverse vaccinology and is the basis of a meningococcal B vaccine entering phase III…
The innate defense of the skin against microbial threats is influenced by antimicrobial proteins (AMP). Staphylococcus aureus often colonizes the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). This was explained by diminished expression of AMP includi…
Emerging evidence suggests that the antimicrobial peptide, leucine leucine-37 (LL-37), could play a role in the progression of solid tumors. LL-37 is expressed as the COOH terminus of human cationic antimicrobial protein-18 (hCAP-18) in ovarian, brea…
The major milk whey proteins of the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii) have been identified over the total period of lactation using proteomic analysis techniques comprising two-dimensional electrophoresis, comparative image analysis, matrix assisted…
Deaths during the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic have been linked to both the influenza virus and secondary bacterial lung infections. Case fatality rates and percentage of influenza cases complicated by pneumonia were available from survey data for tw…
Bacillus anthracis is a National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A priority pathogen and the causative agent of the deadly disease anthrax. We applied a transposon mutagenesis system to screen for novel chromosomally encoded B.…
Fowlicidins are a group of newly identified chicken cathelicidin host defense peptides. We have shown that the putatively mature fowlicidin-2 of 31 amino acid residues possesses potent antibacterial and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- neutralizing activiti…
LL-37, the only member of the cathelicidin family of cationic host defence peptides in humans, has been shown to mediate multiple immunomodulatory effects and as such is thought to be an important component of innate immune responses. A growing body…