Structure-Activity Determinants in Paneth Cell α-Defensins

Structure-Activity Determinants in Paneth Cell α-Defensins: Loss-of-function in Mouse Cryptdin-4 by Charge-reversal at Arginine Residue Positions

Paneth cell α-defensins and enteric microbiota in health and disease

Antimicrobial peptides are major effectors of innate immunity of multicellular organisms including humans and play a critical role in host defense, and their importance is widely recognized. The epithelium of the intestine is the largest surface area exposed to the outer environment, including pathogens, toxins and foods. The Paneth cell lineage of intestinal epithelial cells produces and secre...

Differential Susceptibility of Bacteria to Mouse Paneth Cell α-Defensins under Anaerobic Conditions

Small intestinal Paneth cells secrete α-defensin peptides, termed cryptdins (Crps) in mice, into the intestinal lumen, where they confer immunity to oral infections and define the composition of the ileal microbiota. In these studies, facultative bacteria maintained under aerobic or anaerobic conditions displayed differential sensitivities to mouse α-defensins under in vitro assay conditions. R...

Reduced Paneth cell -defensins in ileal Crohn’s disease

*Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616; †Department of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226; ‡Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Los Angeles, CA 90032; §Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angele...

Reduced Paneth cell alpha-defensins in ileal Crohn's disease.

The pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD), an idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease, is attributed, in part, to intestinal bacteria that may initiate and perpetuate mucosal inflammation in genetically susceptible individuals. Paneth cells (PC) are the major source of antimicrobial peptides in the small intestine, including human alpha-defensins HD5 and HD6. We tested the hypothesis that reduced ...