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Antimicrobial Peptides

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Innate Immunity

Part of the book series: Infectious Disease ((ID))

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Abstract

This review centers on the endogenous antimicrobial polypeptides of humans. Such molecules, which typically contain fewer than 100 amino acids, occur in many types of cells and secretions and are increasingly recognized as ancient and integral components of the innate immune systems of all living organisms. They are generally cationic (positively charged) and amphipathic, an overall configuration that facilitates their binding and insertion into the anionic cell walls and phospholipid membranes of microbes. Analogous peptides exist in vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, and protozoa. For example, several antimicrobial molecules structurally related to granulysin (an αhelical antimicrobial peptide of human T cells) (1) have been purified from amoebae, including the parasite Entamoeba histolytica (2) and the free-living slime mold Dictyostelium discoides (3). Antimicrobial peptides are also produced by some prokaryotes (4) and even by archaea (5). Microbe-made antimicrobial peptides often contain extensive posttranslational modifications or “exotic” amino acids not found in the antimicrobial peptides of animals.

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Authors
  1. Tomas Ganz
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  2. Robert I. Lehrer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Developmental Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    R. Alan B. Ezekowitz MB ChB, DPhil, FAAP

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    R. Alan B. Ezekowitz MB ChB, DPhil, FAAP

  3. Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology, CNRS, Strasbourg, France

    Jules A. Hoffmann PhD

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© 2003 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Ganz, T., Lehrer, R.I. (2003). Antimicrobial Peptides. In: Ezekowitz, R.A.B., Hoffmann, J.A. (eds) Innate Immunity. Infectious Disease. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-320-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-320-0_16

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9746-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-320-0

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