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Antimicrobial peptides in the innate immune system of the lung

Published on January 5, 2014   37 min

A selection of talks on Immunology & Inflammation

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0:00
Hello, first I would like to introduce myself. My name is Pieter Hiemstra, and I'm from the Department of Pulmonology at the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, The Netherlands. In this talk, which is part of the Henry Stewart Talks Series Cells of the Innate Immune System, Henry Stewart talks series cells and their role in the innate immune system. In my talk, I will focus on the role of these peptides in the lung.
0:35
but, as you will see Antimicrobial peptides are an essential element of the innate immune system and essential for host defense against infection. And the dramatic consequences of the interaction of an antimicrobial peptide with a bacterium is shown in this EM image. It shows what happens to Pseudomonas bacterium after it has been exposed for 1½ or 3 hours to an antimicrobial peptide of the family of the cathelicidins. And what you can see most prominently after 3 hours is the appearance of blasts on the outer surface of the bacterium, indicating membrane injury. And indeed, when considering the antimicrobial mechanisms involved in the killing capacity of antimicrobial peptides towards microorganisms it is known that disruption of membrane integrity is a very, very essential mechanism. In addition, for some peptides it has been shown that there is intracellular activity of peptides after death. after death. They have been translocated Various cell types are able to produce antimicrobial peptides, but it appears that on a quantitative basis the main cellular sources of antimicrobial peptides are the neutrophils and the epithelial cells.

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Antimicrobial peptides in the innate immune system of the lung

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