15038 studies
Infections caused by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii have emerged as a serious global health problem. We have shown previously that A. baumannii can become resistant to the last-line antibiotic colistin via the loss of lipopolysaccharide…
Cathelicidin, an antimicrobial peptide of the innate immune system, has been shown to modulate microbial growth, wound healing and inflammation. However, whether cathelicidin controls Helicobacter pylori infection in vivo remains unexplored. This stu…
At hatching, the immune system of the rainbow trout larva is not fully developed. The larva emerges from the egg and is exposed to the aquatic freshwater environment containing pathogenic organisms. At this early stage, protection from disease causin…
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) represent an important defense mechanism against microorganisms. Clearance of NETs is impaired in a subset of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and NETosis is increased in neutrophils and, particularly,…
Multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells to a wide spectrum of anticancer drugs is a major obstacle to successful chemotherapy. It is usually mediated by the overexpression of one of the three major ABC transporters actively pumping cytotoxic drugs…
The increasing resistance of bacteria to conventional antibiotics and the challenges posed by intracellular bacteria, which may be responsible for chronic and recurrent infections, have driven the need for advanced antimicrobial drugs for effective e…
The human cathelicidin hCAP18/LL-37 is an antimicrobial protein consisting of a conserved N-terminal prosequence called the cathelin-like domain and a C-terminal peptide called LL-37. This peptide contains 37 amino acid residues, and several truncate…
Epithelial cells of the cornea and the conjunctiva constitutively produce antimicrobial peptides; however, the production of defensins by other cell types located around the eye has not been investigated. We analyzed the production of beta-defensins…
BACKGROUND: Ustekinumab is a fully human anti-p40 monoclonal antibody which neutralizes interleukin (IL)-12 and IL-23, thereby interfering with T-helper (Th)1/Th17 pathways and keratinocyte activation, and is highly effective in the treatment of psor…
Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) triggers mobilization of stem cells from bone marrow (BM) into peripheral blood (PB). Based on our observation that the bioactive sphingophospholipids, sphingosine-1 phosphate (S1P), and ceramide-1 phosphate (C1P) re…
RATIONALE: The leukocyte response in acute inflammation is characterized by an initial recruitment of neutrophils preceding a second wave of monocytes. Neutrophil-derived granule proteins were suggested to hold an important role in this cellular swit…
The ability of T cells to activate antimicrobial pathways in infected macrophages is essential to host defence against many intracellular pathogens. Here, we compared the ability of two T-cell-mediated mechanisms to trigger antimicrobial responses ag…
Neutrophils have been reported to acquire surface expression of MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecules as well as T-cell stimulatory activities when cultured with selected cytokines. However, cellular identity of those unusual neutrophils showing…
PURPOSE: We established the physiological relevance of LL-37 induced bladder inflammation. We hypothesized that 1) human urinary LL-37 is increased in pediatric patients with spina bifida, 2) LL-37 induced inflammation occurs in our mouse model via u…
BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and potentially life-threatening infection. Innate immunity is the first line of defence, and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) produced by white blood cells and at epithelial barriers participat…
Staphylococcus aureus infections present an enormous global health concern complicated by an alarming increase in antibiotic resistance. S. aureus is among the few bacterial species that express nitric-oxide synthase (bNOS) and thus can catalyze NO p…
Postpartum, infants have not yet established a fully functional adaptive immune system and are at risk of acquiring infections. Hence, newborns are dependent on the innate immune system with its antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and proteins expressed at…
Host defense peptides are ancient weapons of the innate immunity. The human cathelicidin LL-37 protects the epithelial barrier against infection and is constitutively secreted in the bloodstream by immune cells. Current knowledge claims that LL-37 is…
BACKGROUND: Eosinophils and their products, including leukotrienes and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), are well-known mediators of inflammation and tissue damage in asthma. The antimicrobial peptide LL-37 exhibits a variety of immunomodulatory act…
BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have a pivotal role in cutaneous innate immunity. They are present in the skin of many animals, including mammals, and are both constitutively present and inducible by infection and injury. FUNCTIONS: Antimic…