The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
The recent discovery--from a meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials--that supplemental cholecalciferol (vitamin D) significantly reduces all-cause mortality emphasizes the medical, ethical, and legal implications of promptly diagnosing and…
Streptococcus salivarius is an early colonizer of human oral and nasopharyngeal epithelia, and strain K12 has reported probiotic effects. An emerging paradigm indicates that commensal bacteria downregulate immune responses through the action on NF-ka…
BACKGROUND: Cathelicidins are a family of antimicrobial peptides acting as multifunctional effector molecules of innate immunity, which are firstly found in mammalians. Recently, several cathelicidins have also been found from chickens and fishes. No…
As the main difference between bacterial and mammalian cell membranes is their net charge, the focal point of consideration in many model membrane experiments with antimicrobial peptides is lipid headgroup charge. We studied the interaction of the hu…
Neutropenia as a consequence of bone marrow failure, severe infections, or intensive chemotherapy is frequently associated with life-threatening sepsis. Ex vivo expansion of CD34(+) stem cells has been shown to generate apparently functional neutroph…
Pursuing the molecular mechanisms of the concentration dependent cytotoxic and hemolytic effects of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 on cells, we investigated the interactions of this peptide with lipids using different model membranes, together…
Cathelicidin (hCAP-18/LL-37) and beta-defensin 1 (HBD-1) are human antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with high basal expression levels, which form the first line of host defence against infections over the epithelial surfaces. The antimicrobial functions…
Mast cells (MC) express cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides that act as broad-spectrum antibiotics and influence the immune defense of multiple epithelial surfaces. We hypothesized that MC help protect against skin infection through the expression of…
Antimicrobial peptides are good leads to develop new antibiotics, but knowledge of their mode of action is a prerequisite. Destruction of the microbial membranes through a detergent-like mechanism is one of these modes of action. This is usually stud…
Cystatins, the cysteine protease inhibitors, and the cathelin-like domain (CLD) of the antimicrobial cathelicidins are classified into the same superfamily because of their overall structural similarity. However, their evolutionary relationship has r…
Leukotriene B(4) (LTB(4)) is a lipid mediator of inflammation that was recently shown to exert antiviral activities. In this study, we demonstrate that the release of antimicrobial proteins by neutrophils contribute to an early host defense against i…
Neutrophil granules contain several antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that are important effector molecules of innate immunity. In mammals, the main families of these peptides are the cathelicidins and defensins. Several defensins have been characterized…
Cathelicidins are antimicrobial peptides indicated as important in the control of the natural microflora as well as in the fight against bacterial invasion in mammals. Little is known about cathelicidins in fish and here the Chinook salmon (Oncorhync…
Several strategies currently exist for control of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium colonization in the chicken intestine, among which the use of probiotics is of note. Little is known about the underlying mechanisms of probiotic-mediated reduc…
The goal of this study was to analyse expression profiles of human epithelial host defence peptides in burned and unburned skin tissue, samples of which were obtained during debridements and snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen. Total RNA was isolated, and…
Antimicrobial peptides such as cathelicidins can modulate inflammation by interfering with TLR function. Small fragment hyaluronan (HA) is released following injury, and is an endogenous ligand for TLR4 as well as CD44. In this study, we examined the…
Extracellular ATP, released at sites of inflammation or tissue damage, activates the P2X(7) receptor, which in turn triggers a range of responses also including cell proliferation. In this study the ability of the human cathelicidin LL-37 to stimulat…
It is widely accepted, that stress can induce or exacerbate atopic dermatitis. The physiological mechanisms that mediate this negative influence of stress on atopic dermatitis are not clearly understood. This topic has been actively investigated in r…
Anaerobic bacteria dominate the human normal microbiota, but strikingly little is known about these commensals. Finegoldia magna is a Gram-positive anaerobe found in the skin and at other non-sterile body surfaces, but it is also an opportunistic pat…
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Clostridium difficile toxins A and B are major virulence factors implicated in pseudomembranous colitis and antibiotic-associated diarrhea. The toxins are glucosyltransferases, which inactivate Rho proteins involved in cellular sig…