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Function and therapeutic potential of host defence peptides
Author(s) -
Mcphee Joseph B.,
Hancock Robert E. W.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of peptide science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1099-1387
pISSN - 1075-2617
DOI - 10.1002/psc.704
Subject(s) - innate immune system , antimicrobial , antimicrobial peptides , host (biology) , function (biology) , immune system , immunity , biology , broad spectrum , computational biology , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , immunology , ecology , combinatorial chemistry
Cationic host defence (antimicrobial) peptides are an important component of the innate immune systems of a wide variety of plants, animals, and bacteria. Although most of these compounds have direct antimicrobial activities under specific conditions, a greater appreciation for the diversity of functions of these molecules is beginning to develop in the field. In addition to their directly antimicrobial activities, they also have a broad spectrum of activity on the host immune system, with both pro‐inflammatory and anti‐inflammatory effects being invoked. Increasingly sophisticated approaches to understand the role of host defence peptides in modulating innate immunity are already serving to guide the development of novel therapeutics. Copyright © 2005 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.