The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
In this study, we report on the first chemical synthesis of ultra-short pyrazole-arginine based antimicrobial peptidomimetics derived from the newly synthesized N-alkyl/aryl pyrazole amino acids. Through the systematic tuning of hydrophobicity, charg…
Cathelicidins are short cationic peptides initially described as antimicrobial peptides, which can also modulate the immune system. Because most findings have been described in the context of human LL-37 or murine CRAMP, or have been investigated und…
Dogs with allergies are prone to skin infections and treatments/preventatives to boost innate immune-defenses are beneficial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of Boldo and Meadowsweet extracts on the expression of β-defensins (cBD),…
Membrane interactions are critical for the successful use of inorganic nanoparticles as antimicrobial agents and as carriers of, or co-actives with, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). In order to contribute to an increased understanding of these, we here…
The United Nations (UN) estimates that more than one billion people in this world do not have access to safe drinking water due to microbial hazards and it kills more than 7.6 million children every year via waterborne diseases. Driven by the need fo…
Non-typeable(NTHi) is the most common pathogen in primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) patients. We hypothesised that abnormal ciliary motility and low airway nitric oxide (NO) levels on airway epithelial cells from PCD patients might be permissive for N…
BACKGROUND: Cationic antibacterial peptides (CAPs) and synthetic molecules mimicking the amphiphilic structure of CAPs, such as ceragenins, are promising compounds for the development of new antimicrobials. RESULTS: We tested the in vitro activity of…
BACKGROUND & AIM: Fermented foods have been proposed for the prevention of infectious diseases. We evaluated the efficacy of fermented foods in reducing common infectious diseases (CIDs) in children attending daycare. METHODS: Prospective randomized,…
Cathelicidins, as effector molecules, play important roles against infections and represent a crucial component of the innate immune system in vertebrates. They are widely studied in mammals, but little is known in amphibians. In the present study, w…
Children born preterm are at risk of hospital admission for respiratory infection in the first years of life. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of developing lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI). We assessed vitamin D l…
Cathelicidins, a major family of vertebrate antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have a recognized role in the first line of defense against infections. They have been identified in several salmonid species, where the putative mature peptides are unusually…
The human cathelicidin peptide LL-37 plays a crucial role in the immune system on many levels, from the first line of defense in epithelial cells to restoring the tissue after infection. On host cells, the majority of the LL-37-induced effects are me…
BACKGROUND: Little information is available regarding vitamin D-associated factors in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between vitamin D-related factors and susceptibility to NTM l…
Alamethicin is a well-studied antimicrobial peptide (AMP) that kills Gram-positive bacteria. It forms narrow, barrel-stave pores in planar lipid bilayers. We present a detailed, time-resolved microscopy study of the sequence of events during the atta…
Phase changes in Bacteroides fragilis, a member of the human colonic microbiota, mediate variations in a vast array of cell surface molecules, such as capsular polysaccharides and outer membrane proteins through DNA inversion. The results of the pres…
Membrane-disrupting antimicrobial peptides provide broad-spectrum defence against localized bacterial invasion in a range of hosts including humans. The most generally held consensus is that targeting to pathogens is based on interactions with the he…
Maxacalcitol (22-oxacalcitriol: OCT) is a synthetic vitamin D3 analog with a limited calcemic effect. In this study, we investigated whether OCT increases the production of LL-37/CAP-18, a human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, in human gingival/o…
AIM: Organisms express a set of antimicrobial peptides (AMP) to protect the host against invading microbes by targeting their membranes or intracellular structures. Structurally optimized proline-rich AMPs (PrAMPs) are substantially more efficient in…
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a large family of compounds serving as natural antibiotics, widely distributed across the organism, mainly in mucus layers. They are designed to prevent pathogens from colonization. Among them, defensins and cathelici…