The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
Wall teichoic acids (WTAs) and membrane lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) are the major polyanionic polymers in the envelope of Staphylococcus aureus. WTAs in S. aureus play an important role in bacteriophage attachment and bacterial adherence to certain hos…
The antimicrobial peptide LL-37 is generated from skin keratinocytes during infection of Gram-negative bacteria and exerts a microbicidal effect. LL-37 also causes functional changes in mast cells. Mast cells in the skin are involved in the innate im…
The expression and localization of the human sperm protein hCAP-18/SOB3 were evaluated in human testis and epididymis through in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry with the use of an anti-recombinant hCAP-18/SOB3 polyclonal antibody. Both hC…
BACKGROUND: Modification of teichoic acids with D-alanine by the products of the dlt operon protects Gram-positive bacteria against major antimicrobial host defense molecules such as defensins, cathelicidins, myeloperoxidase or phospholipase. The gra…
Antimicrobial peptides or proteins (AMPs) represent an ancient and efficient innate defense mechanism which protects interfaces from infection with pathogenic microorganisms. In human skin AMPs are produced mainly by keratinocytes, neutrophils, seboc…
Tritrpticin and indolicidin are short 13-residue tryptophan-rich antimicrobial peptides that hold potential as future alternatives for antibiotics. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) has been applied as the main tool in this study to investigate…
As a key component of the innate immunity system, human cathelicidin LL-37 plays an essential role in protecting humans against infectious diseases. To elucidate the structural basis for its targeting bacterial membrane, we have determined the high q…
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a major cause of invasive bacterial infections in newborns and certain adult populations. Surface filamentous appendages known as pili have been recently identified in GBS. However, little is known about the role of the…
The antimicrobial cathelicidin LL-37 is considered to play an important role in the innate immune response to tuberculosis infection. However, little is known about the induction and secretion of this antimicrobial peptide in A549 epithelial cells af…
Besides their microbicidal functions, human beta-defensins (hBD) and LL-37 activate different immune and inflammatory cells, and their expression is enhanced in inflamed skin and cutaneous wound sites. To protect against pathogens, the skin produces…
Neutrophils contain antimicrobial peptides with antituberculous activity, but their contribution to immune resistance to tuberculosis (TB) infection has not been previously investigated to our knowledge. We determined differential white cell counts i…
Host defense against intracellular pathogens depends upon innate and adaptive antimicrobial effector pathways. TLR2/1-activation of monocytes leads to the vitamin D-dependent production of cathelicidin and, at the same time, an antimicrobial activity…
The 13-residue cathelicidins indolicidin and tritrpticin are part of a group of relatively short tryptophan-rich antimicrobial peptides that hold potential as future substitutes for antibiotics. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been applie…
The importance of human LL-37 in host defense and innate immunity is well appreciated as reflected by an exponential increase of relevant literature in Pub-Med. Although several articles reported the expression and purification of this cathelicidin,…
Gingival innate immunity has been studied by using biopsies and normal or transformed epithelial cell monolayers. To overcome individual biological variabilities and as a physiological alternative, we have proposed using a reconstructed tissue equiva…
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review recently published studies presenting novel and relevant information on antimicrobial peptides in gastrointestinal infections. RECENT FINDINGS: Defensins and cathelicidins are important antimicrobial peptides expressed by…
BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is characterized by epidermal infiltration of neutrophils that destroy invading microorganisms via a potent antimicrobial arsenal of oxidants and antimicrobial agents. In contrast to atopic dermatitis, psoriasis exhibits low lev…
A unifying theme common to the action of many cationic peptides that display lethal activities against microbial pathogens is their specific action at microbial membranes that results in selective loss of ions and small nucleotides-chiefly ATP. One m…