PMID:14996845

Citation	Harris, RH, Wilk, D, Bevins, CL, Munson, RS Jr and Bakaletz, LO (2004) Identification and characterization of a mucosal antimicrobial peptide expressed by the chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera) airway. J. Biol. Chem. 279:20250-6
Abstract	Cationic antimicrobial peptides (APs) are produced at mucosal surfaces and play a key role as a first line of defense against infection. To understand how APs might impact disease progression in otitis media (OM), our goal was to identify and characterize APs expressed by the epithelium lining the uppermost airway of the chinchilla, the established rodent host for the study of the bacterial-viral pathogenesis in OM. Using a molecular approach, we cloned a cDNA encoding a homolog of human beta-defensin 3, designated chinchilla beta-defensin-1 (cBD-1), and found by Northern analysis expression of the corresponding mRNA in nasopharyngeal and tongue mucosae as well as skin. By reverse transcription-PCR, cBD-1 mRNA was also detected in RNA isolated from trachea, lung, and Eustachian tube tissues. The predicted mature form of cBD-1, expressed as a recombinant peptide in Escherichia coli, demonstrated bactericidal activity against the three primary opportunistic pathogens of OM as well as Candida albicans. Continued study of this and other APs will allow us to determine their role in bacterial colonization of the upper airway as well as how viruses might contribute to the pathogenesis of OM by modulating AP expression.
Links	PubMed Online version:10.1074/jbc.M400499200
Keywords	Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents/chemistry; Base Sequence; Blotting, Northern; Blotting, Southern; Candida albicans/metabolism; Chinchilla; Cloning, Molecular; DNA, Complementary/metabolism; Databases as Topic; Disease Progression; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Eustachian Tube/metabolism; In Situ Hybridization; Lung/metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Mucous Membrane/metabolism; Mucous Membrane/pathology; Otitis Media/drug therapy; Peptides/chemistry; Protein Structure, Tertiary; RNA/metabolism; RNA, Messenger/metabolism; Recombinant Proteins/chemistry; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Species Specificity; Time Factors; Tissue Distribution; Tongue/pathology; Trachea/metabolism; beta-Defensins/genetics
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Annotations

Gene product	Qualifier	GO Term	Evidence Code	with/from	Aspect	Extension	Notes	Status
CHILA:DEFB1		GO:0051873: killing by host of symbiont cells	ECO:0000314:		P		Figure 6 - bacteria and C. albicans incubated with cBD-1 show decreased survival with increased concentrations of cBD-1.	complete CACAO 12166

References

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