The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
Beside its physical barrier against invading microorganisms, the skin has the ability to produce a number of antimicrobial peptides and proteins, including human beta-defensins, cathelicidin LL-37 and lysozyme that participate in the innate host defe…
Stress responses of Bacillus subtilis to membrane-active cationic antimicrobial peptides were studied. Global analysis of gene expression by DNA macroarray showed that peptides at a subinhibitory concentration activated numerous genes. A prominent pa…
The interaction of two cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides, LL-37 and SMAP-29, with three bacterial polysaccharides, respectively, produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Burkholderia cepacia and Klebsiella pneumoniae, was investigated to identify possib…
Cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (mCRAMP), the sole murine cathelicidin, is encoded by the gene Cnlp. We show that mCRAMP expression in the intestinal tract is largely restricted to surface epithelial cells in the colon. Synthetic mCRAMP ha…
The skin actively contributes to host defense by mounting an innate immune response that includes the production of antimicrobial peptides. These peptides, which include but are not limited to the cathelicidin and defensin gene families, provide rapi…
BALB/c mice are susceptible and C57BL/6 mice are resistant to Graves' hyperthyroidism induced by immunization with adenovirus encoding the thyrotropin receptor (TSHR) A-subunit. Both strains develop comparable levels of TSHR antibodies, but potent TS…
The in vitro activity of six cathelicidin peptides against 25 strains of Chlamydia was investigated. SMAP-29 proved to be the most active peptide, reducing the inclusion numbers of all 10 strains of Chlamydia trachomatis tested by > or =50% at 10 mic…
LL-37 is a human cationic host defense peptide that is an essential component of innate immunity. In addition to its modest antimicrobial activity, LL-37 affects the gene expression and behavior of effector cells involved in the innate immune respons…
The cathelicidin peptides comprise one of several families of antimicrobial peptides that are found in neutrophils and epithelia as components of the early host defenses of mammals against infection. All cathelicidin family members are synthesized an…
We report the cloning of a novel antimicrobial peptide gene, termed rtCATH_1, found in the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. The predicted 216-residue rtCATH_1 prepropeptide consists of three domains: a 22-residue signal peptide, a 128-residue cath…
PURPOSE: This study determined whether LL-37 (cathelicidin) is expressed by conjunctival and corneal epithelia as part of ocular host defense. The antimicrobial activity of LL-37 was also assessed in vitro against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA), Staphyl…
Innate immune defense against microbial pathogens occurs by physical barriers, by recruitment of cells such as neutrophils, NK cells, and macrophages, and by secretion of molecules with antimicrobial activity. Such molecules are produced by various e…
Immune defense at an interface with the external environment reflects the functions of physical and chemical barriers provided by epithelial and immune cells. Resident epithelial cells, such as keratinocytes, produce numerous peptides with direct ant…
Antimicrobial peptides play an important role in innate immunity of the lung by acting as effector molecules in host defence against inhaled pathogens. Various families of antimicrobial peptides have been identified, including the cathelicidins. Cath…
Cathelicidins and other antimicrobial peptides are deployed at epithelial surfaces to defend against infection. These molecules have broad-spectrum killing activity against microbes and can have effects on specific mammalian cell types, potentially s…
Antimicrobial peptides have been evaluated in vitro and in vivo as alternatives to conventional antibiotics. Apart from being antimicrobial, the native human cathelicidin-derived peptide LL-37 (amino acids [aa] 104 to 140 of the human cathelicidin an…
We detected LL-37/hCAP-18 expression in the peripheral blood smears of 50 healthy donors and 143 patients with various hematological diseases. Compared with that in the healthy donors, expression of the protein in the neutrophils was significantly lo…
The cathelicidin family of host defense peptides includes a group of cationic and usually amphipathic peptides that display a variety of activities related to host defense functions, among which the most acknowledged is a direct antimicrobial activit…
Articular joint infection is a surprisingly rare event considering the frequency of joint arthrocentesis and other invasive procedures applied to limb joints. This observation led us to the hypothesis that a local "chemical shield" in the form of ant…
Host defense peptides (often called cationic antimicrobial peptides) have pleiotropic immunomodulatory functions. The human host defense peptide LL-37 is up-regulated at sites of infection and has little or no antimicrobial activity in tissue-culture…