Notes from the underground (New York, N.Y.)|1998|Learned J
PMID: 11366197
15038 studies
Antimicrobial peptides are an abundant and diverse component of animal innate immunity. Within mammalian species, defensins and cathelicidins are the two principal antimicrobial peptide families. We identified and sequenced ten new sheep genes which…
The influence of ion composition, pH, and peptide concentration on the conformation and activity of the 37-residue human antibacterial peptide LL-37 has been studied. At micromolar concentration in water, LL-37 exhibits a circular dichroism spectrum…
We have previously described the antibacterial capacity of protegrin-1 (PG-1), a cysteine-rich, cationic peptide from porcine leukocytes, against Neisseria gonorrhoeae. We now report genetic and biochemical evidence that gonococcal susceptibility to…
Bac4 is a bovine cathelicidin gene contiguous to another member of this family named Bac7. Although mutations in the sequence suggested that Bac4 gene might be non-functional, primers based on Bac4 specific sequences allowed amplification of a 900 bp…
The airway surface is an important host defense against pulmonary infection. Secretion of proteins with antimicrobial activity from epithelial cells onto the airway surface represents an important component of this innate immune system. Defensins are…
Human neutrophils contain two structurally distinct types of antimicrobial peptides, beta-sheet defensins (HNP-1 to HNP-4) and the alpha-helical peptide LL-37. We used radial diffusion assays and an improved National Committee for Clinical Laboratory…
Antimicrobial peptides are present in a wide range of species, from protozoa to man, as effector molecules of innate immunity. Several bovine precursors of antimicrobial peptides have recently been identified, as deduced from cDNA, and assigned to th…
A putative antimicrobial peptide of 34 residues was recently deduced from a bovine cathelicidin gene sequence and named BMAP-34. A peptide based on the deduced sequence was chemically synthesized and used to study the localization, structure and biol…
Epithelial tissues provide the first line of defense between an organism and the environment. Disruption of this barrier leads to bacterial invasion and subsequent inflammation. This is precisely the situation existing in the human oral cavity, where…
The antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of the human cathelicidin peptide LL-37 is inhibited by plasma. Because LL-37 does not undergo rapid degradation in human plasma, we postulated that this inhibition results from binding of LL-37 to unidentifie…
Inflammatory processes contribute to neurodegenerative disease, stroke, encephalitis, and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders. Activated microglia are a source of cytokines and other inflammatory agents within the CNS and it is therefore imp…
The antiinflammatory effects of alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) molecules, specifically alpha-MSH(1-13) and its COOH-terminal tripeptide alpha-MSH(11-13), are well established. The peptides have been effective in tests of all major m…
Melanocortins are proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides that include adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH (1-39)], alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone [alpha-MSH (1-13)], and related amino acid sequences. Melanocortin peptides have potent antiinflammato…
It is clear that inflammatory processes contribute to neurodegenerative disease, stroke, closed head injury, encephalitis, and other CNS disorders. These inflammatory processes are marked by local increases in cytokines, in particular tumor necrosis…
Experiments with white mongrel rats (both females and males) showed that nootropic substances, i.e. sodium hydroxybutyrate, pyracetam, oxyracetam, aniracetam, centrophinoxine, nooglutyl, mexydol, semax, amide L-pyroglutamyl-D-alanine, and MK-801, a s…
Recombinant plant (birch) profilin was analyzed for its ability to promote actin polymerization from the actin:thymosin beta4 and beta9 complex. Depending on the nature of the divalent cation, recombinant plant (birch) profilin exhibited two differen…