The only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, playing key roles in innate immune defense, wound healing, and modulation of inflammatory responses.
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes chronic diarrheic intestinal infections in domestic and wild ruminants (paratuberculosis or Johne's disease) for which there is no effective treatment. Critical in the pathogenesis of MAP infec…
The expressions of LL-37 and KLK-5 were found to be altered in various dermatoses, including atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, and rosacea. However, the downstream inflammatory effect of LL-37 and KLK-5 is not as well studied. In addition, there is littl…
Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) are major producers of type I interferons in response to activation of endosomal toll-like receptors (TLRs), e.g. TLR9. While a number of cell biological and intracellular signaling events associated with TLR9 acti…
BACKGROUND: Cathelicidins are a family of Host Defense Peptides (HDPs), that play an important role in the innate immune response. They exert both broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against pathogens, and strong immunomodulatory functions that aff…
The immunomodulatory effect of vitamin D and its potential in prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infections have long been of interest to many scientific teams around the world. Several meta-analyses in the last 10 years have confirmed the…
Rosacea is a chronic skin disease characterized by photosensitivity, abnormal dermal vascular behavior, inflammation, and enhanced expression of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37. We observed that dermal endothelial cells in rosacea had an increased ex…
Glucocorticoids play a key role in treatment of inflammatory lung diseases including both airway and parenchymal lung diseases. RNA viral infections are major causes of chronic lung disease exacerbations and can determine glucocorticoid resistance. T…
Airway epithelium is an important site for local vitamin D (VD) metabolism; this can be negatively affected by inflammatory mediators. VD is an important regulator of respiratory host defense, for example, by increasing the expression of hCAP18/LL-37…
It is well-established that tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) play an important role in breast cancer development. Accumulating evidence suggested that human cathelicidin antimicrobial protein (), which is mainly expressed in host defense cells suc…
Pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with higher plasma levels of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and lower granulysin levels. However, the association of AMPs with tuberculous lymphadenitis (TBL) is not well studied. Hence, we measured the plasma leve…
Peptides with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity are found widely expressed throughout nature. As they participate in a number of different aspects of innate immunity in mammals, they have been termed Host Defense Peptides (HDPs). Due to their com…
Over the past decade, the rapid increase in the incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has promoted research towards alternative therapeutics such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), but their biodegradability limits their application. Encapsulatio…
In the past decades, clinical and experimental evidence has demonstrated that psoriasis is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the skin that occurs in genetically susceptible individuals. Psoriasis also shows clear autoimmune pathomechanisms,…
Some antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are produced in the vaginal innate immune system and play an important role in protecting this organ against pathogenic agents. Moreover, sexually transmitted diseases have become a major problem in human societies…
Crotalicidin (Ctn) and its fragment Ctn[15-34] are snake-venom-derived, cathelicidin-related peptides outstanding for their promising antimicrobial, antifungal, and antitumoral properties. In this study, we describe their membranolytic mechanisms as…
Infections are common complications in joint replacement surgeries. Eradicated infections can lead to implant failure. In this paper, analogues of the peptide KR-12 derived from the human cathelicidin LL-37 were designed, synthesised, and characteris…
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are central components of the innate immune system providing protection against pathogens. Yet, serum and tissue concentrations vary between individuals and with disease conditions. We demonstrate that the human AMP LL-3…
is a primary pathogen responsible for causing postoperative infections as it survives and persists in host cells, including osteoblasts and macrophages. These cells then serve as reservoirs resulting in chronic infections. Most traditional antibiotic…
Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is considered to be a promising bone implant material owing to its biocompatibility and elastic modulus, which is similar to that of natural bone. However, the clinical potential of PEEK is severely limited by its bioinert…
(PA) is an opportunistic pathogen, which causes serious lung infections in immunocompromised patients. Traditional oral intake of large quantities of small-molecule antibiotics to treat bacterial infections leads to off-target toxicity and developmen…