Direct screening identifies mature β-defensin 2 in avian heterophils

Purification and Characterization of Avian β - Defensin 11 ( AvBD 11 ) : an Antimicrobial 1 Peptide of the Hen Egg . 2 3 Running title : Avian β - defensin 11 , an egg antimicrobial peptide 4 5

Poster Session: Metabolism and Nutrition

desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), we found the chicken heterophils teemed with avian beta defensin 2 (AvBD2) isoform. The heterophils play a crucial role in innate immunity defending against microbial pathogens. Because heterophils undergo activation through their membrane bound “Toll-like receptors (TLR)”that recognize “pathogen associated molecules,” we wa...

Differential effects of age on chicken heterophil functional activation by recombinant chicken interleukin-2.

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) exercises an array of biological effects on many cells including the functional activation of cells of the innate immune response. Heterophils, the avian equivalent of the neutrophil, function as professional phagocytes to aid in regulation of innate host defenses. The objective of the present studies was to examine the effects of recombinant chicken IL-2 (rChIL-2) on funct...

Separation of avian heterophils from blood using Ficoll-Hypaque discontinuous gradients.

Rapid separation of avian heterophils from anticoagulated whole blood was achieved using Ficoll-Hypaque discontinuous gradients. An average of 14.4% of blood heterophils was harvested with a mean purity exceeding 99%. Heterophil viability, as determined by trypan blue dye exclusion, averaged 99.8%. The integrity of isolated heterophils was evaluated by cytochemical staining and ultrastructural ...

Human β-defensin 2 induces extracellular accumulation of adenosine in Escherichia coli.

Human β-defensins are host defense peptides performing antimicrobial as well as immunomodulatory functions. The present study investigated whether treatment of Escherichia coli with human β-defensin 2 could generate extracellular molecules of relevance for immune regulation. Mass spectrometry analysis of bacterial supernatants detected the accumulation of purine nucleosides triggered by β-defen...