14102 studies
Antimicrobial peptides are intrinsic to the innate immune system in many organ systems, but little is known about their expression in the central nervous system. We examined cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum from patients with active bacterial meni…
The role of vitamin D in innate immunity is increasingly recognized. Recent work has identified a number of tissues that express the enzyme 1alpha-hydroxylase and are able to activate vitamin D. This locally produced vitamin D is believed to have imp…
An essential function of the innate immune system is to directly trigger antimicrobial mechanisms to defend against invading pathogens. In humans, one such pathway involves activation by TLR2/1L leading to the vitamin D-dependent induction of antimic…
BACKGROUND: With the exception of fungi, microbial infections are rare in the oesophagus. Herein, we aimed to systematically assess the distribution and quantity of different antimicrobial host factors as well as, for the first time, functional mucos…
Lipid-water interaction plays an important role in the properties of lipid bilayers, cryoprotectants, and membrane-associated peptides and proteins. The temperature at which water bound to lipid bilayers freezes is lower than that of free water. Here…
Medical literature is rich with new and relevant information, resulting from basic or applied research. Some strong arguments are presented in this document. Firstly, the discovery and role of a virus, the polyomavirus, in the development of Merkel t…
Cathelicidin is strongly expressed in lesional skin in psoriasis and may play an important role as both an antimicrobial peptide and as an autoinflammatory mediator in this chronic skin disease. The mechanism of increased cathelicidin in psoriatic ke…
BACKGROUND & AIMS: KPV is a tripeptide (Lys-Pro-Val), which possesses anti-inflammatory properties; however, its mechanisms of action still remain unknown. PepT1 is a di/tripeptide transporter normally expressed in the small intestine and induced in…
BACKGROUND: Despite some progress in recent years, the options for treating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are still dissatisfying, and surgery rates are still high. The anti-inflammatory effects of melanocortin peptides such as alpha-melanocyte-st…
Alpha-MSH is a tridecapeptide derived from proopiomelanocortin. Many studies over the last few years have provided evidence that alpha-MSH has potent protective and antiinflammatory effects. These effects can be elicited via centrally expressed melan…
Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) is characterized by decreases in renal function, increased interstitial fibrosis, tubular apoptosis, and cellular infiltration. It has been suggested that inhibition of tubular apoptosis may protect against renal…
A large body of evidence from postmortem brain tissue and genetic analysis in humans and biochemical and pathological studies in animal models (transgenic and toxin) of neurodegeneration suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction is a common pathological…
PURPOSE: It is well established that cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain degenerate in Alzheimer's dementia. Although recent studies were concentrated on screening molecules that might reduce the concomitant cell loss, little is known about th…
The chronic administration of nootropic drug Semax, a peptide analog of ACTH (4-10), normalized the circadian locomotor rhythm in rats (with an increase in its amplitude, a shift in the acrophase, and a change of the spectral characteristics) and red…
Semax is a synthetic peptide, which consists of the N-terminal adrenocorticotropic hormone fragment (4-7) (ACTH4-7) and C-terminal Pro-Gly-Pro peptide. Semax promotes neuron survival in hypoxia, increases selective attention and memory storage. It wa…
It was shown, that photochemically induced thrombosis of blood vessels in prefrontal areas of the cortex lead to the formation of well-defined infarct zone. Bilateral prefrontal cortex injury impair acquisition of the Morris water-maze on postoperati…
New aspects of the classical Selye stress theory are considered. Stress is interpreted as a systemic response of the organism. In the last years the stress concept h as undergone transformation to the notion of emotional stress. In the context of the…