Cryptdins: endogenous antibiotic peptides of small intestinal Paneth cells.
We purified three peptides ("cryptdins") from the small intestines of mice, established their primary amino acid sequences and examined their antimicrobial activity. Their primary sequences revealed approximately 50% identity to a group of antimicrobial defensins that we had previously isolated from the granules of rat neutrophils. In addition to their ability to kill Gram-positive (L. monocytogenes) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli and S. typhimurium) in vitro, the peptides were much more active against an avirulent (phoP) S. typhimurium strain than against its isogenic, mouse-virulent progenitor. Overall, these data suggest that endogenous antimicrobial peptides produced by Paneth cells may protect small intestinal crypts, which are critical sites of epithelial cell renewal, from invasion by autochthonous flora or by perorally acquired potential pathogens, such as Listeria and Salmonella.
Department of Medicine, UCLA-Center for the Health Sciences 90024-1678, USA.
S S
SS
Harwig
P B
PB
Eisenhauer
N P
NP
Chen
R I
RI
Lehrer
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects; D005796:Genes; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D011498:Protein Precursors; C059569:cryptdin