The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides are components of the innate immunity that play an important role in systemic and oral health. OBJECTIVES: The antibacterial activity of the amphibian-derived K4 -S4(1-15)a antimicrobial peptide was tested against o…
The protein pattern of healthy human eccrine sweat was investigated and 10 major proteins were detected from which apolipoprotein D, lipophilin B, and cathepsin D (CatD) were identified for the first time in human eccrine sweat. We focused our studie…
A mouse model of staphylococcal sepsis was used to evaluate the efficacy of RNAIII-inhibiting peptide (RIP) combined with the cathelicidin BMAP-28. Preliminary in vitro studies showed that both peptides, alone or combined, were able to inhibit the li…
Immune defence against microbes depends in part on the production of antimicrobial peptides, a process that occurs in a variety of cell types but is incompletely understood. In this study, the mechanisms responsible for the induction of cathelicidin…
Streptococcus pyogenes is an important Gram-positive pathogen that is strictly limited to infections in humans. Here we report that streptolysin O (SLO), a cytolytic exotoxin secreted by S. pyogenes, activates human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN…
Tritrpticin is a member of the cathelicidin family of antimicrobial peptides. Starting from its native sequence (VRRFPWWWPFLRR), eight synthetic peptide analogs were studied to investigate the roles of specific residues in its biological and structur…
Severe sepsis is associated with dysfunction of the macrophage/monocyte, an important cellular effector of the innate immune system. Previous investigations suggested that probiotic components effectively enhance effector cell functions of the immune…
Patients with atopic dermatitis exhibit an increased susceptibility to cutaneous infections, especially to pathological colonization with superantigen-secreting Staphylococcus aureus. Recent attention has been focused on antimicrobial peptides, espec…
The endogenous anti-microbial peptide LL-37/hCAP-18 is an effector molecule of the innate host defense system at surfaces of the body. Besides its direct anti-microbial activity, the peptide interacts with different cell types. Dendritic cells (DCs)…
The intestinal epithelium forms a single cell barrier that separates the host's internal milieu from luminal contents. This article examines the role of the intestinal epithelium as a critical component of a communications network that is essential f…
Previously, we revealed that a cationic antibacterial polypeptide of 11 kDa (CAP11), a member of the cathelicidins isolated from guinea pig neutrophils, exhibits not only potent antibacterial activity but also lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-neutralizing ac…
Cathelicidin genes homologous to the human CAMP gene, coding for the host defense peptide LL-37, have been sequenced and analyzed in 20 primate species, including Great Apes, hylobatidae, cercopithecidae, callithricidae, and cebidae. The region corre…
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the in vitro antifungal activity of the structurally different cathelicidin peptides SMAP-29, BMAP-27, BMAP-28, protegrin-1 (PG-1) and indolicidin. METHODS: The in vitro antifungal and fungicidal activities of these antimic…
The antimicrobial protein cathelicidin is considered to play an important role in the defense mechanisms against bacterial infection. Recent studies show that sodium butyrate induces cathelicidin gene expression in human colonic, gastric and hepatic…
Cathelicidins comprise a family of antimicrobial peptides sharing a highly conserved cathelin domain. Here we report that the entire chicken genome encodes three cathelicidins, namely fowlicidin-1 to -3, which are densely clustered within a 7.5-kb di…
BACKGROUND: Atopic eczema (AE) is a multifactorial disease, which has increased in prevalence. The skin-colonizing yeast Malasezzia sympodialis can induce IgE- and T-cell reactivity in patients with AE. LL-37 is an endogenous peptide antibiotic belon…
The presence of cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides provides an important mechanism for prevention of infection against a wide variety of microbial pathogens. The activity of cathelicidin is controlled by enzymatic processing of the proform (hCAP18 i…
Modification of material surfaces aimed at bestowing them with antimicrobial properties is a promising approach in the development of new biomaterials. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are an attractive alternative to conventional antibiotics because of…
Corneal neovascularization can be induced by a severe ocular infection, injury or immunological diseases. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is the main cytokine involved in this phenomenon, inducing angiogenesis from the vascularized ocul…