title: Antimicrobial peptides and the skin immune defense system.
abstract: Our skin is constantly challenged by microbes but is rarely infected. Cutaneous production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) is a primary system for protection, and expression of some AMPs further increases in response to microbial invasion. Cathelicidins are unique AMPs that protect the skin through 2 distinct pathways: (1) direct antimicrobial activity and (2) initiation of a host response resulting in cytokine release, inflammation, angiogenesis, and reepithelialization. Cathelicidin dysfunction emerges as a central factor in the pathogenesis of several cutaneous diseases, including atopic dermatitis, in which cathelicidin is suppressed; rosacea, in which cathelicidin peptides are abnormally processed to forms that induce inflammation; and psoriasis, in which cathelicidin peptide converts self-DNA to a potent stimulus in an autoinflammatory cascade. Recent work identified vitamin D3 as a major factor involved in the regulation of cathelicidin. Therapies targeting control of cathelicidin and other AMPs might provide new approaches in the management of infectious and inflammatory skin diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schauber
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Gallo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D054804:Cathelicidins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002762:Cholecalciferol / Q000378:metabolism*; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D012393:Rosacea / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy; D012867:Skin / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D054804:Cathelicidins; D002762:Cholecalciferol