The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
The term host defense peptides arose at the beginning to refer to those peptides that are part of the host's immunity. Because of their broad antimicrobial capacity and immunomodulatory activity, nowadays, they emerge as a hope to combat resistant mu…
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder that is characterized by recurrent and chronic infections of the lung predominantly by the opportunistic pathogens, Gram-positiveand Gram-negativeWhileis the main colonizing bacteria of…
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections in infants and children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between vitamin D levels and urinary tract infections in children. This case-control study was performed…
Antimicrobial resistance is a major concern to public health demanding effective alternative strategies to disease control and prevention. Modulation of endogenous host defense peptide (HDP) synthesis has emerged as a promising antibiotic alternative…
Dengue, an acute febrile illness which in some cases requires hospitalization and occasionally a fatal disease, caused by dengue virus is a potential threat to the public health systems throughout the world. Approved antivirals are not available for…
Host defense proteins (HDPs), aka defensins, are a key part of the innate immune system that functions by inserting into the bacterial membranes to form pores to kill invading and colonizing microorganisms. To ensure survival, microorganism such as S…
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is related to enhanced production of NETs, and autoimmune/autoinflammatory phenomena. We evaluated the proportion of low-density granulocytes (LDG) by flow cytometry, and their capacity to produce NETs was comp…
Changes in immune factors expressed by milk somatic cells from Holstein cows with hypocalcemia after calving were investigated in this study. Fourteen multiparous Holstein cows after their 3rd or 4th calving in one farm were used. The cows were divid…
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease associated with interleukins, their receptors, key transcription factors and more recently, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Cathelicidin LL-37 is an AMP proposed to play a fundamental role in psoriasis etiology. With…
Ureaplasma parvum is a commensal bacterium in the female reproductive tract but has been associated with pregnancy complications such as preterm prelabor rupture of membranes and preterm birth (PTB). However, the pathologic effects of U. parvum in th…
BACKGROUND: Granulomatous rosacea is a distinct variant of rosacea because of its unique histopatholiogic findings. However, the pathogenesis of granulomatous rosacea has not yet been clearly demonstrated. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study w…
To study the molecular interplay between TLRs and complement representing ancient danger-sensing mechanisms, we examined the regulation of the C3a/anaphylatoxin C3a receptor (C3aR) axis in normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) by treatment wit…
SARS-CoV-2 infection begins with the association of its spike 1 (S1) protein with host angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2). Targeting the interaction between S1 and ACE2 is a practical strategy against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Herein, we show encoura…
K9CATH is the sole cathelicidin in canines (dogs) and exhibits broad antimicrobial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. K9CATH also modulates inflammatory responses and binds to LPS. These activities depend on the secondary…
Incidence of drug resistance in clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant(MRSA) is attributed to its diverse repertoire of virulence factors. Of these virulence determinants, Panton-Valentine Leukocidin (PVL) has been experimentally validated as a p…
Human hair follicles (HFs) carry complex microbial communities that differ from the skin surface microbiota. This likely reflects that the HF epithelium differs from the epidermal barrier in that it provides a moist, less acidic, and relatively ultra…
Several antimicrobial peptides, including magainin and the human cathelicidin LL-37, act by forming pores in bacterial membranes. Bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus modify their membrane's cardiolipin composition to resist such types of perturbat…
Regulation of immune function continues to be one of the most well-recognized extraskeletal actions of vitamin D. This stemmed initially from the discovery that antigen presenting cells such as macrophages could actively metabolize precursor 25-hydro…
BACKGROUND: In periodontal connective tissue cells, the vitamin D pathway has been elucidated, and vitamin Din the main storage form, 25-hydroxy vitamin D(25[OH]D), and the functional form, 1,25-dihydroxy vitamin D(1,25[OH]D), have been found to indu…
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common type of arthritis and is associated with wear and tear, aging, and inflammation. Previous studies revealed that several antimicrobial peptides are up-regulated in the knee synovium of patients with OA or rheumat…