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Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases pp 1–9Cite as

Birkhäuser

Antibacterial Host Defense Peptides

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Synonyms

Antimicrobial peptides; Cathelicidins; Defensins; Host defense peptides

Definition

Natural antimicrobial/host defense peptides are present in a wide variety of organisms, ranging from plants and insects to mammals with complex immune systems. These peptides confer protection against infections, as well as contributing to other physiological functions which include wound healing, regulation of inflammation, and immune homeostasis. Therefore, the term host defense peptides (HDPs) is increasingly used as an accepted nomenclature to describe these molecules, to encompass both their antimicrobial and immunomodulatory functions. HDPs are typically 12–50 amino acids in length with a net positive charge ranging from +2 to +7 with ≥30 % hydrophobic residues. Cationic HDPs were first discovered in 1962, from the orange-speckled frog Bombina variegata. During the late 1970s, various groups reported HDPs, primarily α-defensins, from humans and rabbits (Phoenix et al. 2013). The landmark...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Manitoba Centre for Proteomics and Systems Biology, Departments of Internal Medicine and Immunology, University of Manitoba, Rm 799 – John Buhler Research Centre, 715 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3E 3P4, Canada

    Hadeesha Piyadasa, Ka-Yee Grace Choi & Neeloffer Mookherjee

Authors
  1. Hadeesha Piyadasa
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  2. Ka-Yee Grace Choi
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  3. Neeloffer Mookherjee
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Correspondence to Neeloffer Mookherjee .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst of Clinical Pharmacology Haus 74/75, JW Goethe University Frankfurt Fraunhofer IME, Frankfurt, Germany

    Michael Parnham

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Piyadasa, H., Choi, KY.G., Mookherjee, N. (2014). Antibacterial Host Defense Peptides. In: Parnham, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Inflammatory Diseases. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_100-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-0620-6_100-1

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  • Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-0620-6

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