title: Antibiotic proteins of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.
abstract: Nine polypeptide peaks with antibiotic activity were resolved from human polymorphonuclear leukocyte azurophil granule membranes. All but 1 of the 12 constituent polypeptides were identified by N-terminal sequence analysis. Near quantitative recovery of protein and activity permitted an assessment of the contribution of each species to the overall respiratory-burst-independent antimicrobial capacity of the cell. Three uncharacterized polypeptides were discovered, including two broad-spectrum antibiotics. One of these, a defensin that we have designated human neutrophil antimicrobial peptide 4, was more potent than previously described defensins but represented less than 1% of the total protein. The other, named azurocidin, was abundant and comparable to bactericidal permeability-increasing factor in its contribution to the killing of Escherichia coli.
authors.affiliation: Beatrice and Samuel A. Seaver Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College, New York, NY 10021.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gabay
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Campanelli
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilde
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seeger
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Nathan
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000187:drug effects; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000187:drug effects; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001798:Blood Proteins