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Science 15 October 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5439, pp. 420 - 421
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5439.420
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Perspectives

Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives

IMMUNOLOGY:
Enhanced: Defensins and Host Defense

Tomas Ganz

Defensins are antimicrobial peptides produced by cells as part of the host's immune defense system against invading pathogens. A Perspective by Tomas Ganz highlights three papers that provide new insights into the structure and function of vertebrate defensins. In mice, a-defensins produced by the Paneth cells of the small intestine help defend the host against invasion by intestinal pathogens such as Escherichia coli and Salmonella (Wilson et al.). Two human b-defensins have been shown to act as chemoattractants for dendritic cells and memory T cells (Yang et al.), and a new cyclic q-defensin identified in monkeys has powerful antimicrobial activity and may be a molecular template for designing new antibiotics (Tang et al.).

The author is in the Department of Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine, CHS 37-055, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. E-mail: tganz{at}mednet.ucla.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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The anti-microbial peptide LL-37 inhibits the activation of dendritic cells by TLR ligands.
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A Bacterial Sensory System that Activates Resistance to Innate Immune Defenses: Potential Targets for Antimicrobial Therapeutics.
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Mol. Interv. 5, 335-337
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Copy number polymorphism and expression level variation of the human {alpha}-defensin genes DEFA1 and DEFA3.
P. M.R. Aldred, E. J. Hollox, and J. A.L. Armour (2005)
Hum. Mol. Genet. 14, 2045-2052
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Innate Immunity in the Human Female Reproductive Tract: Antiviral Response of Uterine Epithelial Cells to the TLR3 Agonist Poly(I:C).
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J. Immunol. 174, 992-1002
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Global gene expression analysis of rat colon cancers induced by a food-borne carcinogen, 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine.
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Identification on Mouse Chromosome 8 of New {beta}-Defensin Genes with Regionally Specific Expression in the Male Reproductive Organ.
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Staphylococcus aureus Resists Human Defensins by Production of Staphylokinase, a Novel Bacterial Evasion Mechanism.
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J. Immunol. 172, 1169-1176
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W. O. Chung and B. A. Dale (2004)
Infect. Immun. 72, 352-358
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Antimicrobial polypeptides.
T. Ganz (2004)
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Solution Structure of the Recombinant Penaeidin-3, a Shrimp Antimicrobial Peptide.
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Antimicrobial Characterization of Human {beta}-Defensin 3 Derivatives.
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Evidence for Membrane Thinning Effect as the Mechanism for Peptide-Induced Pore Formation.
F.-Y. Chen, M.-T. Lee, and H. W. Huang (2003)
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Expression of the cathelicidin LL-37 is modulated by short chain fatty acids in colonocytes: relevance of signalling pathways.
J Schauber, C Svanholm, S Termen, K Iffland, T Menzel, W Scheppach, R Melcher, B Agerberth, H Luhrs, and G H Gudmundsson (2003)
Gut 52, 735-741
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Isolation and biochemical characterization of LEAP-2, a novel blood peptide expressed in the liver.
A. Krause, R. Sillard, B. Kleemeier, E. Kluver, E. Maronde, J. R. Conejo-Garcia, W. G. Forssmann, P. Schulz-Knappe, M. C. Nehls, F. Wattler, et al. (2003)
Protein Sci. 12, 143-152
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Cationic Polypeptides Are Required for Antibacterial Activity of Human Airway Fluid.
A. M. Cole, H.-I Liao, O. Stuchlik, J. Tilan, J. Pohl, and T. Ganz (2002)
J. Immunol. 169, 6985-6991
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Chemokines Meet Defensins: the Merging Concepts of Chemoattractants and Antimicrobial Peptides in Host Defense.
M. Durr and A. Peschel (2002)
Infect. Immun. 70, 6515-6517
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Structure-Function Relationship Studies on the Frog Skin Antimicrobial Peptide Tigerinin 1: Design of Analogs with Improved Activity and Their Action on Clinical Bacterial Isolates.
N. Sitaram, K. P. Sai, S. Singh, K. Sankaran, and R. Nagaraj (2002)
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46, 2279-2283
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ADP ribosylation of human neutrophil peptide-1 regulates its biological properties.
G. Paone, A. Wada, L. A. Stevens, A. Matin, T. Hirayama, R. L. Levine, and J. Moss (2002)
PNAS 99, 8231-8235
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Increased Levels of Antimicrobial Peptides in Tracheal Aspirates of Newborn Infants during Infection.
S. SCHALLER-BALS, A. SCHULZE, and R. BALS (2002)
Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 165, 992-995
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Human {alpha}-Defensins HNPs-1, -2, and -3 in Renal Cell Carcinoma : Influences on Tumor Cell Proliferation.
C. A. Muller, J. Markovic-Lipkovski, T. Klatt, J. Gamper, G. Schwarz, H. Beck, M. Deeg, H. Kalbacher, S. Widmann, J. T. Wessels, et al. (2002)
Am. J. Pathol. 160, 1311-1324
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Cell Differentiation Is a Key Determinant of Cathelicidin LL-37/Human Cationic Antimicrobial Protein 18 Expression by Human Colon Epithelium.
K. Hase, L. Eckmann, J. D. Leopard, N. Varki, and M. F. Kagnoff (2002)
Infect. Immun. 70, 953-063
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Molecular Evolution of the Intimin Gene in O111 Clones of Pathogenic Escherichia coli.
C. L. Tarr and T. S. Whittam (2002)
J. Bacteriol. 184, 479-487
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Regulation of Human {beta}-Defensin-2 in Gingival Epithelial Cells: The Involvement of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways, But Not the NF-{kappa}B Transcription Factor Family.
S. Krisanaprakornkit, J. R. Kimball, and B. A. Dale (2002)
J. Immunol. 168, 316-324
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Cutting Edge: IFN-Inducible ELR- CXC Chemokines Display Defensin-Like Antimicrobial Activity.
A. M. Cole, T. Ganz, A. M. Liese, M. D. Burdick, L. Liu, and R. M. Strieter (2001)
J. Immunol. 167, 623-627
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Matrilysin in Epithelial Repair and Defense.
W. C. Parks, Y. S. Lopez-Boado, and C. L. Wilson (2001)
Chest 120, 36S-41S
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Impaired Pulmonary Host Defense in Mice Lacking Expression of the CXC Chemokine Lungkine.
S.-C. Chen, B. Mehrad, J. C. Deng, G. Vassileva, D. J. Manfra, D. N. Cook, M. T. Wiekowski, A. Zlotnik, T. J. Standiford, and S. A. Lira (2001)
J. Immunol. 166, 3362-3368
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)