The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
The Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei is the aetiological agent of melioidosis, which is an endemic disease in tropical areas of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. Burkholderia pseudomallei has intrinsic resistance to a number of…
Cathelicidins are a group of antimicrobial peptides. Since their discovery, it has become clear that they are an exceptional class of peptides, with some members having pleiotropic effects. Not only do they possess an antibacterial, antifungal and an…
Some antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been described to exert immunomodulatory effects, which may contribute to their in vivo antibacterial activity. Very recently, we could show that novel oncocin and apidaecin derivatives are potently antibacteri…
Mast cells (MCs) are considered sentinels in the skin and mucosa. Their ability to release antimicrobial peptides, such as cathelicidin, protects against bacterial infections when the epithelial barrier is breached. We recently described that MCs def…
Human acidic fibroblast growth factor (haFGF) stimulates repair of delayed healing which still remains a tremendously world-wide issue. However, most of the patients with delayed healings have to face another creeping problem - microbial infection, w…
We report that the bone marrow (BM) stroma-released LL-37, a member of the cathelicidin family of antimicrobial peptides, primes/increases the responsiveness of murine and human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) to an α-chemokine stromal-de…
BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between salivary LL-37 levels and clinical severity in patients with chronic periodontitis (CP). The presence/absence of four periodontopathic bacteria and salivary cotinine levels…
Cathelicidins are a family of bacteriocidal polypeptides secreted by macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). LL-37, the only human cathelicidin, has been implicated in tumorigenesis, but there has been limited investigation of its express…
BACKGROUND: Complex skin defects resulting from acute skin trauma and chronic, nonhealing wounds are life-threatening injuries. Infection is one of the most common obstacles to the healing of these types of wounds. Host defense peptides (HDPs) posses…
The CsrRS two-component regulatory system of group A Streptococcus (GAS; Streptococcus pyogenes) responds to subinhibitory concentrations of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37. LL-37 signaling through CsrRS results in upregulation of genes that di…
This study investigated the role of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin in Escherichia coli O157:H7 infection and subsequent renal damage. Mouse and human cathelicidin, CRAMP and LL-37, respectively, killed E. coli O157:H7 in vitro. Intestines fro…
BACKGROUND: Enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus may cause severe inflammatory intestinal disease, particularly in infants or immunodeficient or elderly patients. They are also recognized to be associated with sudden infant death syndrome. Lit…
Hematopoietic stem progenitor cells (HSPCs) respond robustly to α-chemokine stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) gradients, and blockage of CXCR4, a seven-transmembrane-spanning G(αI)-protein-coupled SDF-1 receptor, mobilizes HSPCs into peripheral blood.…
Numerous atypical mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium abscessus (Mabc), cause nontuberculous mycobacterial infections, which present a serious public health threat. Inflammasome activation is involved in host defense and the pathogenesis of autoimm…
Here we show that keratinocytes in psoriatic lesional skin express increased Toll-like receptor (TLR) 9 that similarly localizes with elevated expression of the cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37. In culture, normal human keratinocytes exposed…
LL-23 is a natural peptide corresponding to the 23 N-terminal amino acid residues of human host defense cathelicidin LL-37. LL-23 demonstrated, compared to LL-37, a conserved ability to induce the chemokine MCP-1 in human peripheral blood mononuclear…
Vitamin D is an important regulator of the expression of antimicrobial peptides, and vitamin D deficiency is associated with respiratory infections. Regulating expression of antimicrobial peptides, such as the human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide…
Mast cells (MCs) are well-known effectors of allergic reactions and are considered sentinels in the skin and mucosa. In addition, through their production of cathelicidin, MCs have the capacity to oppose invading pathogens. We therefore hypothesized…
This paper reviews the recent data on the role of vitamin D (VD) in the genesis of various immunological disorders. It inhibits immune reactions in general, but it enhances the transcription of 'endogenous antibiotics' such as cathelicidin and defens…
The bacterial pathogen Group A Streptococcus (GAS) colonizes epithelial and mucosal surfaces and can cause a broad spectrum of human disease. Through the secreted plasminogen activator streptokinase (Ska), GAS activates human plasminogen into plasmin…