The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Innate intestinal defenses are important for protection against ingested and commensal microbes. This review highlights recent new insights into innate immune effectors in the intestine. RECENT FINDINGS: Intestinal epithelial cells…
In the present study, we examined the role of Staphylococcus aureus protein A (SpA) in inducing inflammatory response in human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs). Exposure of HCECs to SpA induces rapid NF-kappaB activation and secretion of proinflammat…
An essential element of the innate immune response to injury is the capacity to recognize microbial invasion and stimulate production of antimicrobial peptides. We investigated how this process is controlled in the epidermis. Keratinocytes surroundin…
BACKGROUND: Recurrent acute tonsillitis is one of the most frequent ENT referrals, yet its pathogenesis remains poorly understood, and tonsillectomy still costs the National Health Service more than pound 60,000000 annually. Antimicrobial cationic pe…
The antimicrobial hexapeptide PAF26 was de novo designed towards phytopathogenic fungi of agricultural importance. To analyze its clinical potential, the activity of PAF26 has been determined against several microorganisms of clinical relevance inclu…
BACKGROUND: A feature of psoriasis is the rapid proliferation of keratinocytes, during which apoptosis is blocked and angiogenesis starts. It is known that tumor hypoxic cells produce histone deacetylase-1 (HDAC-1), which up-regulates hypoxia-inducib…
Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are the causative organisms in more than 80% of urinary tract infections. The bacteria are introduced to the urinary tract that, except for the external part of the urethra, is free from microbial colonization, a…
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 Dlt system modulates the density of negative charge in the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria by substituting anionic polymers (wall and lipoteichoic acids) with d-alanine. The htrA and htrB genes, regulated by the CssRS two-component system (TC…
Recently, we designed a novel cell-selective antimicrobial peptide (TPk) with intracellular mode of action from Pro --> Nlys (Lys peptoid residue) substitution in a noncell-selective cathelicidin-derived Trp/Pro-rich antimicrobial peptide, tritrptici…
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…
Human organism, constantly exposed to a large variety of pathogenic microorganisms and their products, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), developed innate immunity as a first line of defence. One of the compartments of our organism well equipped with…
The human, multifunctional peptide LL-37 causes membrane disruption by distinctly different mechanisms strongly dependent on the nature of the membrane lipid composition, varying not only with lipid headgroup charge but also with hydrocarbon chain le…
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria together with the limited success of sepsis therapeutics has lead to an urgent need for the development of alternative strategies for the treatment of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and related…
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…
Human kallikrein 1-related peptidases (KLKs) form a subfamily of 15 extracellular (chymo)tryptic-like serine proteases. KLKs 4, 5, 13 and 14 display altered expression/activity in diverse pathological conditions, including cancer. However, their dist…
Erythema Toxicum, a rash frequently present in the healthy newborn infant is an innate, immune response to the first commensal micro flora. Flushing and urtication are seen in this manifestation suggesting mast cell (MC) activation and MC derived med…
Finegoldia magna is an anaerobic Gram-positive bacterium and commensal, which is also associated with clinically important conditions such as skin and soft tissue infections. This study describes a novel subtilisin-like extracellular serine proteinas…
The human cathelicidin LL-37 is a cationic host defense peptide and serves as an important component of innate immunity. It has been demonstrated to be a multifunctional modulator of innate immune responses, although the mechanism(s) underlying this…