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Antimicrobial activity of three tick defensins and four mammalian cathelicidin-derived synthetic peptides against Lyme disease spirochetes and bacteria isolated from the midgut

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Abstract

In this study, chemically synthesized tick defensins and cathelicidin-derived mammalian peptides were used to investigate the activity spectrum against Borrelia garinii and symbiotic Stenotrophomonas maltophila. Synthetic tick defensins showed antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus but not B. garinii and S. maltophila. Mammalian peptides which have cationic property similar to tick defensins, showed antimicrobial activity similar to tick defensins. The antimicrobial peptides in ticks and mammalian hosts have common characteristics against microbial invasion in the innate immune system.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part of grants from High-Tech Research Center Project for Private Universities:matching fund subsidy from MEXT (2007–2011). We thank Dr. K. Nakajima (KNC Laboratories Co., Ltd, Kobe, Japan) for fruitful discussion and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Disease Control and Molecular Epidemiology, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu 1757, Hokkaido, 061-0293, Japan

    Emiko Isogai & Michiko Kobayashi-Sakamoto

  2. Animal Research Center, Sapporo Medical University, Minami 1 Nishi 16, Sapporo, 060-8556, Japan

    Hiroshi Isogai & Koichi Takahashi

  3. Department of Oral Surgery, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu 1757, Hokkaido, 061-0293, Japan

    Kazuhiko Okumura

Authors
  1. Emiko Isogai
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  2. Hiroshi Isogai
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  3. Koichi Takahashi
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  4. Michiko Kobayashi-Sakamoto
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  5. Kazuhiko Okumura
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Correspondence to Emiko Isogai.

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Isogai, E., Isogai, H., Takahashi, K. et al. Antimicrobial activity of three tick defensins and four mammalian cathelicidin-derived synthetic peptides against Lyme disease spirochetes and bacteria isolated from the midgut. Exp Appl Acarol 49, 221–228 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-009-9251-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-009-9251-5

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