14102 studies
The epithelia constitute a major barrier to the environment and provide the first line of defense against invading microbes. Antimicrobial peptides are emerging as participants in the defense system of epithelial barriers in general. Originally we is…
hCAP-18 is a newly described protein of human neutrophilic granulocytes which belongs to the cathelicidin family of antimicrobial proteins. Members of this protein family share a common N-terminal sequence followed by a highly diverse antimicrobial,…
Neutrophils contain various antibacterial polypeptides and proteins in the granules that contribute to the killing of microorganisms. Recently, we have purified a cationic antibacterial polypeptide of 11 kDa (CAP11) from guinea pig neutrophil granule…
hCAP-18 is the only human member of the antibacterial and endotoxin-binding family of proteins known as cathelicidins. The antibacterial and endotoxin binding domains reside in the C-terminal 37 amino acids of the protein (LL-37) and this is believed…
Cathelicidins are a group of myeloid antimicrobial peptide precursors found in a variety of mammalian species. Transcripts of this family show a highly conserved 5' region corresponding to the 5' untranslated region, signal peptide and propiece, and…
Novel alpha-helical antimicrobial peptides have been devised by comparing the N-terminal sequences of many of these peptides from insect, frog and mammalian families, extracting common features, and creating sequence templates with which to design ac…
The saline loading test was performed in 53 hospitalized patients with essential hypertension. According to Sullivan's standard, 22 of the 53 patients were salt-sensitive (SS), 31 were salt-resistant (SR). The blood pressure in two groups of patients…
OBJECTIVES: To characterise phenotypically the minor salivary glands of patients with clinical and histological features of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: 75 consecutive patients with SS (31 prima…
OBJECTIVE: To study the long-term outcome in patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS). METHODS: We retrospectively studied a cohort of 43 patients with SS; 31 patients with primary SS and 12 patients with secondary SS (6 patients with rheumatoid arthrit…
Efficiency of Semax (synthetic derivative of ACTH-4-10) was studied in 30 patients in acute period of hemispherical ischemic stroke. Control group consisted of 80 patients with the strokes analogous in severity and location of the damages and which w…
Semax is one of the rare analogues of regulatory peptides which underwent all stages from fundamental investigations to practical usage. It has been demonstrated that this peptide is capable to stimulate operative memory and attention, to increase re…
Thymosin beta 4 (T beta 4) is a peptide of 43 amino acids that was first isolated from the thymus gland and subsequently found to be ubiquitous in nature. T beta 4 functions mainly as an actin-sequestering molecule in nonmuscle cells, where its prima…
In several cell types, short-term increases in the concentration of the G-actin-sequestering peptide thymosin-beta4 (Tbeta4) cause the disassembly of F-actin bundles. To determine the extent of cell adaptability to these reductions in F-actin, we ove…
Phe(12) of deacetyl-thymosin beta(4) is one of the structural essentials for restorative effect on the impaired blastogenic response of uraemic T-lymphocytes. In order to evaluate the functional roles of this phenyl group in the restorative effect on…
We previously demonstrated that small G-actin binding proteins, cofilin, ADF and profilin, are involved in the actin dynamics during myofibrillogenesis (OBINATA, T. (1993). Int. Rev. Cytol., 143: 153-189.). To better understand how they are responsib…
Thymosin beta 4 (T beta 4) is a 4.9 kDa polypeptide that interacts with G-actin and is thought to be an important mediator in cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation. T beta 4 has been identified as a factor involved in the differentiation…
Thymosin fraction 5 (TF5) is a partially purified preparation of the bovine thymus possessing immunopotentiating properties. TF5 also stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in vivo and anterior pituitary hormone release in vitro. Interleu…
The beta-thymosins are a family of highly polar peptides which serve in vivo to maintain a reservoir of unpolymerized actin monomers. In vitro, beta-thymosins form 1:1 complexes with actin monomers and inhibit both polymerization and exchange of the…