title: New insights into cathelicidin modulation of adaptive immunity.
abstract: Cathelicidins are a family of host defence peptides that are known to selectively alter innate immunity in response to infection and other changes in immune status. A study in this issue of the European Journal of Immunology elucidates a new role for mouse cathelin-related antimicrobial peptide in the adaptive immune response by clearly demonstrating for the first time that a cathelicidin can alter T-cell-dependent activation of the humoral response in vivo and thus modulate the activities of both B and T lymphocytes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Kelli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wuerth
authors.forename: Robert E W
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Hancock
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D016175:B-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D054804:Cathelicidins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D054804:Cathelicidins