15038 studies
Antimicrobial peptides are multifunctional in innate immunity and wound repair of multicellular organisms. We were the first to discover that histatins, a family of salivary antimicrobial peptides, enhance epithelial cell migration, suggesting a role…
Three Arg-rich nonapeptides, containing the same amino acid composition but different sequences, PFWRIRIRR-amide (PR-9), RRPFWIIRR-amide (RR-9) and PRFRWRIRI-amide (PI-9), are able to induce segregation of anionic lipids from zwitterionic lipids, as…
Vitamin D was discovered as the preventive agent of nutritional rickets, a defect in bone development due to inadequate uptake of dietary calcium. However, a variety of studies over the last several years has revealed that vitamin D controls much mor…
BACKGROUND: Narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) is a routine treatment for psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (AD) but its effect on vitamin D balance is not well studied. OBJECTIVES: To examine whether NB-UVB treatment in winter improves vitamin D balanc…
A 21-residue peptide segment, LL7-27 (RKSKEKIGKEFKRIVQRIKDF), corresponding to residues 7-27 of the only human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide, LL37, is shown to exhibit potent activity against microbes (particularly Gram-positive bacteria) but no…
Modification of the lipid A moiety of bacterial lipopolysaccharide influences cell wall properties, endotoxic activity, and bacterial resistance to antimicrobial peptides. Known modifications are variation in the number or length of acyl chains and/o…
Tannerella forsythia is a gram-negative bacterium strongly associated with the development and/or progression of periodontal disease. Here, we have shown that a newly characterized matrix metalloprotease-like enzyme, referred to as karilysin, efficie…
Microbial as well as endogenous nucleic acids are recognized by a group of endosomal Toll-like receptors TLR3, TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9. Recent discoveries significantly improved our understanding of molecular mechanism of their activation and their physi…
Fowlicidin-1 is a newly identified alpha-helical cathelicidin host defense peptide. We have shown that fowlicidin-1 possesses potent antibacterial activity, but also displays considerable toxicity toward mammalian cells. To further identify fowlicidi…
Antimicrobial peptides are part of the innate immune system of many organ systems, yet little is known about their expression and function in the brain. The antibacterial cathelicidin rCRAMP in rats (homologue of the human LL-37) not only exhibits po…
Pustulosis palmaris et plantaris or palmoplantar pustulosis (PPP) is a refractory pustular eruption on the palms and soles with unknown etiology. Numerous eccrine sweat pores exist on the palms and soles, suggesting the involvement of eccrine sweatin…
Francisella infects the lungs causing pneumonic tularemia. Focusing on the lung's host defense, we have examined antimicrobial peptides as part of the innate immune response to Francisella infection. Interest in antimicrobial peptides, such as the ca…
Cathelicidin peptides play key roles in host responses to infection. Radek and colleagues (2010) demonstrate that the nicotinic acetylcholine system, activated during stress, suppresses production of mouse cathelicidin, increasing host susceptibility…
Stress mobilizes elements from the neuroendocrine system to modulate immune responses. Cholinergic stimulation via nicotinic receptor (nAchR) is a major neuroendocrine signaling axis associated with the stress response whose specific effects on the i…
Defensins were first identified in 1985 and are now recognized as part of a large family of antimicrobial peptides, divided into three categories: alpha-, beta-, and -defensins. These defensin classes differ in structure, sites of expression and biol…
In the present study, EA-CATH1 and EA-CATH2 were identified from a constructed lung cDNA library of donkey (Equus asinus) as members of cathelicidin-derived antimicrobial peptides, using a nested PCR-based cloning strategy. Composed of 25 and 26 resi…
BACKGROUND: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) is a key factor in determining monocyte induction of the antimicrobial protein cathelicidin, which requires intracrine conversion of 25OHD to 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)(2)D]. Both vitamin D metabol…
The molecular processes of immune responses in mucosal tissues, such as the gills, during infection with bacterial pathogens are poorly understood. In the present study, we analyzed the transcriptional profiles of selected antibacterial genes and cyt…
Increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and downregulated antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are observed in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). Tacrolimus and ceramide-dominant emollients are effective in the treatment of AD by preventing the produc…
We have identified an 11-residue pattern (KR(F/A)KKFFKK(L/P)K), which we have named the ATRA motif, within the sequence of the Chinese cobra (Naja atra) cathelicidin. A series of 11-residue peptides (ATRA-1, -2, -1A and -1P) were designed to probe th…