title: The antimicrobial action of histones in the reproductive tract of cow.
abstract: An infection of any part of female reproductive tract can severely interfere with fertility and reproduction. The fluids and epithelium from the lumen of the female reproductive tract (uterus, oviduct and ovarian follicle) are a known source of antimicrobial action in several species. In this study, we compared the antimicrobial properties of fluids from the reproductive tract of a cow. After removal of small molecules, we demonstrated that there is an antimicrobial activity connected with a fraction of compounds with a molecular mass range between 3500 and 30,000. The most probable candidates responsible for the observed antimicrobial effect were subsequently identified by mass spectroscopy as histones H2A type 2-C, H2B type 1-K, H3.3, and H4. The antimicrobial role of histone H2B was further confirmed by using an antibody against this histone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tomáš
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dráb
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kračmerová
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hanzlíková
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Černá
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Rozálie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Litváková
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Alžběta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pohlová
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tichá
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathophysiology and CEH, 1.st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, U Nemocnice 5, 128 53 Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Přikryl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, Prague 128 43, Czech Republic. Electronic address: jirik@natur.cuni.cz.
authors.forename: Jiří
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liberda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D003956:Dialysis; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000378:metabolism*; D006657:Histones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010057:Oviducts / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D006657:Histones
keywords: Antimicrobial properties; Bovine reproductive tract; Extracellular histones; Histone-like proteins