Expression and immunolocalisation of antimicrobial peptides within human palatine tonsils

2007 ◽  
Vol 121 (10) ◽  
pp. 973-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
S L Ball ◽  
G P Siou ◽  
J A Wilson ◽  
A Howard ◽  
B H Hirst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide ◽  
Surface Epithelium ◽  
Cationic Peptides ◽  
Cationic Peptide ◽  
Acute Tonsillitis ◽  
Palatine Tonsils ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Peptide Expression

Background: Recurrent acute tonsillitis is one of the most frequent ENT referrals, yet its pathogenesis remains poorly understood, and tonsillectomy still costs the National Health Service more than £60 000 000 annually. Antimicrobial cationic peptides are components of the innate immune system. They are generally small, highly positively charged peptides with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity which function as the body's ‘natural antibiotics'. The role of antimicrobial cationic peptides in the susceptibility of patients to recurrent acute tonsillitis is unknown.Aims: To characterise and compare antimicrobial cationic peptide expression and localisation in human palatine tonsils from control subjects and recurrent acute tonsillitis patients, and to assess the potential role of these peptides in the pathogenesis of tonsillitis.Methods: Palatine tonsils were harvested with informed consent from 19 recurrent acute tonsillitis patients and from five control subjects undergoing tonsillectomy for sleep disorders. Total ribonucleic acid was isolated and antimicrobial cationic peptide expression was characterised using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Fluorescent immunohistochemical techniques were used to localise antimicrobial cationic peptides within fresh frozen tonsil sections.Results: Using molecular analyses, the palatine tonsils from control and recurrent acute tonsillitis subjects were confirmed as a site of expression of the antimicrobial cationic peptides human β-defensin 1–3, LL-37 (cathelicidin) and Liver expressed antimicrobial peptide-1 (LEAP-1). We also demonstrated for the first time the expression of Liver expressed antimicrobial peptide-2 (LEAP-2). Our analyses indicated that all six antimicrobial cationic peptides were expressed in all 26 tonsil samples. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that the antimicrobial cationic peptides were localised to the tonsil surface and crypt epithelium. However, the surface epithelium of tonsils from recurrent acute tonsillitis patients showed reduced amounts of antimicrobial peptides human β-defensins 1 and 3, and LL-37, compared with healthy controls.Conclusion: The tonsil epithelium synthesises an array of antimicrobial cationic peptides which function as host defence. Preliminary immunohistochemical data suggest that the surface epithelium of tonsils from recurrent acute tonsillitis patients contains reduced amounts of such peptides, which may increase these patients' susceptibility to infection.

Expression of antimicrobial peptides in recurrent adenotonsillitis

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehmet Gökhan Demir ◽  
Sedat Aydın ◽  
Banu Atalay Erdoğan ◽  
Serpil Oğuztüzün ◽  
Murat Kılıç ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Surface Epithelium ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Cationic Peptides ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Recurrent Tonsillitis ◽  
Acute Tonsillitis ◽  
Adenotonsillar Hypertrophy ◽  
Tonsillar Tissue

AbstractBackground:Recurrent acute tonsillitis is one of the most frequent otorhinolaryngology clinic referrals, yet its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Antimicrobial cationic peptides are components of the innate system. They are generally small, highly positively charged peptides with broad spectrum antimicrobial activity which function as the body’s “natural antibiotics”. Our aim is to investigate the role of antimicrobial cationic peptides in the susceptibility of patients to recurrent acute tonsillitis.Materials and methods:The study is done with 100 children who had a history of recurrent adenotonsillitis as subject group and 100 children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy as control group. Tonsillar and adenoid tissues are dissected into parts as deep and surface epithelium and investigated semiquantitatively with immunohistochemistry. Human beta defensin (hBD) 1–3 and cathelecidin (LL-37) levels are compared with microscopically.Results:Immunohistochemistry revealed a strong expression of hBD-1, hBD-2 and hBD-3 in tonsillar tissue. Quantification of hBD-1, hBD-2 and hBD-3 expressions are shown more in tonsillar tissue than in adenoids. LL-37 is one of the antimicrobial peptides found in human tonsillar tissue and adenoids, that participates in the innate immune system of these tissues. Statistically, hBD-1, hBD-3 and LL-37 expressions were different in recurrent tonsillitis tissue than control (p<0.05). Moreover hBD-2 expression was different in adenoid tissue than control (p<0.05).Conclusion:Antimicrobial peptides have key role in adenotonsillar infections and this defense mechanism increases susceptibility to recurrent infections in upper respiratory tract.

scholarly journals Staphylococcus aureus Infection of Epidermal Keratinocytes Promotes Expression of Innate Antimicrobial Peptides

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 5241-5244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara E. Menzies ◽  
Aimee Kenoyer
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide ◽  
Human Keratinocytes ◽  
Lipoteichoic Acid ◽  
Epidermal Keratinocytes ◽  
Aureus Infection ◽  
Inflammatory Stimuli ◽  
Peptide Expression ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide Expression

ABSTRACT Keratinocytes upregulate expression of endogenous antimicrobial peptides in response to inflammatory stimuli. We show that both viable and heat-inactivated Staphylococcus aureus and lipoteichoic acid differentially alter expression of these peptides upon contact with human keratinocytes. The findings indicate a diversity of staphylococcal factors involved in upregulation of antimicrobial peptide expression in cutaneous epithelia.

Antimicrobial peptides in the pathogenesis of infectious complications in obstetrics and gynecology

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olesya Nikolaevna Ivashova ◽  
Olga Petrovna Lebedeva ◽  
Sergey Petrovich Pakhomov ◽  
Natal’ya Alexandrovna Rudyh ◽  
Marina Sergeevna Seliverstova
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Reproductive Tract ◽  
Infectious Complications ◽  
Female Reproductive Tract ◽  
Innate Immune ◽  
Cationic Peptides ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Angiogenic Effect

Antimicrobial peptides (AMP) are cationic peptides of innate immune system with antiviral, antibacterial and antiprotozoal activity. AMP act as immunomodulators, promote bacterial opsonization, inhibit proteases activity, have anti-endotoxic and angiogenic effect. The review describes main types of AMPs, features of their expression in female reproductive tract depending from menstrual cycle and during pregnancy. Data about the role of AMPs in defending from sexually transmitted infections (HIV, genital herpes, HPV, gonorrhea), in pathogenesis of extrauterine pregnancy and preterm birth are described. Possibility of practical application of AMPs as alternative to antibiotics and as contraceptives is estimated.

NOVEL FAMILY OF PROLINE-RICH ANTIMICROBIAL PEPTIDES INHIBITING BACTERIAL TRANSLATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (19) ◽  
pp. 173-174
Author(s):  
R.N. Kruglikov ◽  
T.V. Ovchinnikova ◽  
P.V. Panteleev
Keyword(s):  
Biological Activity ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide ◽  
Bacterial Cells ◽  
Bacterial Translation

A new proline-rich antimicrobial peptide from alpaca (Vicugnia pacos) was obtained, as well as its modified analogs. The biological activity of the peptides was studied, and also the role of the N- and C-terminal fragments, when acting on bacterial cells, was analyzed.

scholarly journals Induction of the Antimicrobial Peptide CRAMP in the Blood-Brain Barrier and Meninges after Meningococcal Infection

2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (12) ◽  
pp. 6982-6991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bergman ◽  
Linda Johansson ◽  
Hong Wan ◽  
Allison Jones ◽  
Richard L. Gallo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier ◽  
Brain Barrier ◽  
Meningococcal Infection ◽  
Blood Brain ◽  
Bactericidal Properties ◽  
Living Species ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACT Antimicrobial peptides are present in most living species and constitute important effector molecules of innate immunity. Recently, we and others have detected antimicrobial peptides in the brain. This is an organ that is rarely infected, which has mainly been ascribed to the protective functions of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and meninges. Since the bactericidal properties of the BBB and meninges are not known, we hypothesized that antimicrobial peptides could play a role in these barriers. We addressed this hypothesis by infecting mice with the neuropathogenic bacterium Neisseria meningitidis. Brains were analyzed for expression of the antimicrobial peptide CRAMP by immunohistochemistry in combination with confocal microscopy. After infection, we observed induction of CRAMP in endothelial cells of the BBB and in cells of the meninges. To explore the functional role of CRAMP in meningococcal disease, we infected mice deficient of the CRAMP gene. Even though CRAMP did not appear to protect the brain from invasion of meningococci, CRAMP knockout mice were more susceptible to meningococcal infection than wild-type mice and exhibited increased meningococcal growth in blood, liver, and spleen. Moreover, we could demonstrate that carbonate, a compound that accumulates in the circulation during metabolic acidosis, makes meningococci more susceptible to CRAMP.

scholarly journals Regulation of Antimicrobial Peptide Activity via Tuning Deformation Fields by Membrane-Deforming Inclusions

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 326
Author(s):  
Oleg V. Kondrashov ◽  
Sergey A. Akimov
Keyword(s):  
Antimicrobial Peptides ◽  
Statistical Model ◽  
Antimicrobial Peptide ◽  
Plasma Membranes ◽  
Eukaryotic Cell ◽  
Gramicidin A ◽  
Eukaryotic Cells ◽  
Amphipathic Peptides ◽  
Transmembrane Peptides

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered prospective antibiotics. Some AMPs fight bacteria via cooperative formation of pores in their plasma membranes. Most AMPs at their working concentrations can induce lysis of eukaryotic cells as well. Gramicidin A (gA) is a peptide, the transmembrane dimers of which form cation-selective channels in membranes. It is highly toxic for mammalians as being majorly hydrophobic gA incorporates and induces leakage of both bacterial and eukaryotic cell membranes. Both pore-forming AMPs and gA deform the membrane. Here we suggest a possible way to reduce the working concentrations of AMPs at the expense of application of highly-selective amplifiers of AMP activity in target membranes. The amplifiers should alter the deformation fields in the membrane in a way favoring the membrane-permeabilizing states. We developed the statistical model that allows describing the effect of membrane-deforming inclusions on the equilibrium between AMP monomers and cooperative membrane-permeabilizing structures. On the example of gA monomer-dimer equilibrium, the model predicts that amphipathic peptides and short transmembrane peptides playing the role of the membrane-deforming inclusions, even in low concentration can substantially increase the lifetime and average number of gA channels.

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