Resistin, a Novel Host Defense Peptide of Innate Immunity.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Li Y
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8253364 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Antimicrobial peptides, such as defensins or cathelicidins, are effector substances of the innate immune system and are thought to have antimicrobial properties that contribute to host defense. The evidence that vertebrate antimicrobial peptides contribute to innate immunity in vivo is based on their expression pattern and in vitro activity against microorganisms. The goal of this study was to investigate whether the overexpression of an antimicrobial peptide results in augmented protection against bacterial infection. C57BL/6 mice were given an adenovirus vector containing the cDNA for LL-37/hCAP-18, a human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide. Mice treated with intratracheal LL-37/hCAP-18 vector had a lower bacterial load and a smaller inflammatory response than did untreated mice following pulmonary challenge with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Systemic expression of LL-37/hCAP-18 after intravenous injection of recombinant adenovirus resulted in improved survival rates following intravenous injection of lipopolysaccharide with galactosamine or Escherichia coli CP9. In conclusion, the data demonstrate that expression of an antimicrobial peptide by gene transfer results in augmentation of the innate immune response, providing support for the hypothesis that vertebrate antimicrobial peptides protect against microorganisms in vivo.
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Project description:As a preformed defense system, complement faces a delicate challenge in providing an immediate, forceful response to pathogens even at first encounter, while sparing host cells in the process. For this purpose, it engages a tightly regulated network of plasma proteins, cell surface receptors, and regulators. Complement component C3 plays a particularly versatile role in this process by keeping the cascade alert, acting as a point of convergence of activation pathways, fueling the amplification of the complement response, exerting direct effector functions, and helping to coordinate downstream immune responses. In recent years, it has become evident that nature engages the power of C3 not only to clear pathogens but also for a variety of homeostatic processes ranging from tissue regeneration and synapse pruning to clearing debris and controlling tumor cell progression. At the same time, its central position in immune surveillance makes C3 a target for microbial immune evasion and, if improperly engaged, a trigger point for various clinical conditions. In our review, we look at the versatile roles and evolutionary journey of C3, discuss new insights into the molecular basis for C3 function, provide examples of disease involvement, and summarize the emerging potential of C3 as a therapeutic target.
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Project description:Caspases regulate cell death, immune responses, and homeostasis. Caspase-6 is categorized as an executioner caspase but shows key differences from the other executioners. Overall, little is known about the functions of caspase-6 in biological processes apart from apoptosis. Here, we show that caspase-6 mediates innate immunity and inflammasome activation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that caspase-6 promotes the activation of programmed cell death pathways including pyroptosis, apoptosis, and necroptosis (PANoptosis) and plays an essential role in host defense against influenza A virus (IAV) infection. In addition, caspase-6 promoted the differentiation of alternatively activated macrophages (AAMs). Caspase-6 facilitated the RIP homotypic interaction motif (RHIM)-dependent binding of RIPK3 to ZBP1 via its interaction with RIPK3. Altogether, our findings reveal a vital role for caspase-6 in facilitating ZBP1-mediated inflammasome activation, cell death, and host defense during IAV infection, opening additional avenues for treatment of infectious and autoinflammatory diseases and cancer.
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Project description:Thor has been identified as a new type of gene involved in Drosophila host immune defense. Thor is a member of the 4E-binding protein (4E-BP) family, which in mammals has been defined as critical regulators in a pathway that controls initiation of translation through binding eukaryotic initiation factor 4E (eIF4E). Without an infection, Thor is expressed during all developmental stages and transcripts localize to a wide variety of tissues, including the reproductive system. In response to bacterial infection and, to a lesser extent, by wounding, Thor is up-regulated. The Thor promoter has the canonical NFkappaB and associated GATA recognition sequences that have been shown to be essential for immune induction, as well as other sequences commonly found for Drosophila immune response genes, including interferon-related regulatory sequences. In survival tests, Thor mutants show symptoms of being immune compromised, indicating that Thor may be critical in host defense. In contrast to Thor, Drosophila eIF4E is not induced by bacterial infection. These findings for Thor provide the first evidence that a 4E-BP family member has a role in immune induction in any organism. Further, no gene in the translation initiation pathway that includes 4E-BP has been previously found to be immune induced. Our results suggest either a role for translational regulation in humoral immunity or a new, nontranslational function for 4E-BP type genes.
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Project description:The formation of extracellular traps (ETs) by phagocytic cells has been recognized as a novel and important mechanism of the host innate immune response against infections. ETs are formed by different host immune cells such as neutrophils, mast cells, and eosinophils after stimulation with mitogens, cytokines, or pathogens themselves, in a process dependent upon induction of a reactive-oxygen-species-mediated signaling cascade. ETs consist of nuclear or mitochondrial DNA as a backbone with embedded antimicrobial peptides, histones, and cell-specific proteases and thereby provide a matrix to entrap and kill microbes and to induce the contact system. This review summarizes the latest research on ETs and their role in innate immunity and host innate defense. Attention is also given to mechanisms by which certain leading bacterial pathogens have evolved to avoid entrapment and killing in these specialized structures.
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Project description:Discrimination between self vs. non-self and adequate response to infection and tissue damage are fundamental functions of the immune system. The rapid and global spread of known and emerging viruses is a testament that the timely detection of viral pathogens that reproduce within host cells, presents a formidable challenge to the immune system. To gain access to a proper reproductive niche, many pathogens travel via the host vasculature and therefore become exposed to humoral factors of the innate immune system. Although a cascade of coagulation factors plays a fundamental role in host defense for “living fossils” such as horseshoe crabs (Xiphosurida spp), the role of the coagulation system in activation of innate responses to pathogens in higher organisms remains unclear. When human type C adenovirus (HAdv) enters the circulation, 240 copies of coagulation factor X (FX) bind to the virus particle with picomolar affinity. Here, using molecular dynamics flexible fitting (MDFF) and high resolution cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we defined the interface between the HAdv5 hexon protein and FX at pseudo-atomic level. Based on this structural data, we introduced a single amino acid substitution, T424A, in the hexon that completely abrogated FX interaction with the virus. In vivo genome-wide transcriptional profiling revealed that FX-binding-ablated virus failed to activate a distinct network of the early response genes, whose expression depends on transcription factor NFKB1. Deconvolution of the signaling network responsible for early gene activation showed that the FX-HAdv complex triggers MyD88/TRIF/TRAF6 signaling upon activation of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) that serves as a principal sensor of FX-virus complex in vivo. Our study implicates host factor “decoration” of the virus as a mechanism to trigger innate immune sensor that respond to a misplacement of coagulation FX from the blood into intracellular macrophage compartments upon virus entry into the cell. Our results further the mounting evidence of evolutionary conservation between the coagulation system and innate immunity. Two strains of mice, C57BL/6, and Il1r1-/- deficient. Mice were challenged with wild type HAdv5 or HAdv5-based vectors.
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