Biotech firm gets Canadian OK to test antibiotic in humans Jun 2, 2008
"This is the first small molecule defensin mimetic to enter clinical development intended for the treatment of systemic infections, and the first and only such compound which is designed to directly address the growing problem of bacterial drug resistance.". A defensin mimetic is as a synthetic chemical mimic of host defense proteins, which, the company said, are one of the oldest and most effective antimicrobial defense systems found in virtually all living creatures. (Philadelphia Business Journal, PA)
New Defense Mechanism Against Intestinal Inflammation Found Mar 16, 2008
This contact triggers a defence reaction within the epithelial cell called the Nod pathway, which results in alerting the immune system as well as in the release of antimicrobial peptides called defensins. Defensins act as antibiotics: they kill bacteria directly by puncturing holes in their walls ... "Furthermore, our study demonstrates that this mechanism is regulated negatively by the Caspase-12 protein, meaning that this protein limits defensin production. This hampers the elimination of... (Science Daily)
Scientists find dog fur color gene Nov 2, 2007
The gene belongs to the large family of defensin genes, which may play a role in fighting infections ... The beta-defensin gene is part of a large and variable family of defensin genes ... Humans can have between 40 and 50 defensin genes, and dogs can carry up to 46 of these genes. (Xinhuanet, China)
Genetics Of Coat Color In Dogs May Help Explain Human Stress And Weight Nov 1, 2007
To the researchers' surprise, the gene makes a protein that's part of a large and variable family called defensins, thought to fight infections ... Candille's work narrowed the genome region to a gene that makes a beta-defensin protein, previously believed to play a role in fighting infection (hence the name) ... One version of the beta-defensin gene produces yellow dogs, a mutant version of the gene produces black. (Science Daily)
Dogs help genetic research at Stanford Oct 31, 2007
What the researchers concluded is that the gene that determines coat color is part of a family of genes known as defensins, which have been previously thought of as microbe fighters. "The most important observation that stems from the paper is that in trying to understand what defensins really do, we've been looking under a lamppost based on the way in which the gene family was named," study team leader Greg Barsh said ... "In fact, we really have very little evidence that defensins do much in... (Palo Alto Online, CA)
Stanford researchers sniff out gene that gives dogs black fur Oct 31, 2007
The study, published in the Nov. 2 issue of Science, answers a longtime mystery: What determines coat color in dogs" While researchers have known since the 1900s that most mammals share the same genetic mechanism to determine coat color, by the 1950s they began to suspect that dogs were different. Now after swabbing the inner cheeks of hundreds of dogs and analyzing the DNA in the resulting samples, a team led by genetics professor Greg Barsh, MD, PhD, has nailed the gene. To the researchers'... (EurekAlert!)
Newly found sensing system enables certain bacteria to resist human immune defenses Jun 8, 2007
D., of NIAIDs Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), the scientists used the gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis to study its response to a specific human AMP, human beta defensin 3. S. epidermidis is one of several hard-to-treat infectious agents that can be transmitted to patients in hospitals via contaminated medical implants. (EurekAlert!)
Prematurity More Accurately Predicted By Advances In Proteomic Technology Feb 14, 2007
The proteins detected are human neutrophil defensin 1, human neutrophil defensin 2, calgranulin C and calgranulin A.. About 50 percent of women who deliver prematurely have evidence of inflammation in the amniotic fluid. (Science Daily)
New Help for Healing Jan 16, 2007
It is called beta-defensin ... Scientists hope to find out if skin substitutes with higher levels of beta defensin might help them heal better. (WOKR13 Rochester)
Genetic skin fights burn victim infections Jan 11, 2007
Dorothy Supp and her team discovered skin cells genetically altered to produce higher levels of human beta defensin (HBD4 -- a protein) killed more bacteria than ordinary skin cells ... She believes defensins could become an effective alternative method for burn care and infection control. (Xinhuanet, China)
Genetically Altered Cells Show Promise for Burn Patients Jan 10, 2007
Supp and her research team isolated a protein known as human beta defensin 4 (HBD4) from donated tissue samples and transferred it into surface skin cells. HBD4 is one of a class of proteins that helps the body fight off infection. (Health-Finder)
'Modified' skin cells resist bugs Jan 8, 2007
" Defence boost Her team found skin cells genetically altered to produce higher levels of a protein called human beta defensin 4 (HBD4) killed more bacteria than normal skin cells. HBD4 is one in a class of proteins that exist throughout the body as part of its natural defence system. It's an exciting development. Let's hope it brings the expected benefits. Hamish Laing, consultant plastic surgeon The bacteria they tested against, pseudomonas aeruginosa, is commonly found in hospitals. The... (BBC News)
Genetically altered cells may help artificial skin fight infection Jan 8, 2007
Dorothy Supp, PhD, and her team found that skin cells that were genetically altered to produce higher levels of a protein known as human beta defensin 4 (HBD4) killed more bacteria than normal skin cells ... Supp says defensins could become an effective alternative method for burn wound care and infection control. (EurekAlert!)
Bacteria get off easy in sinus infections Sep 15, 2006
Comparing nasal epithelial cell samples from nine patients who benefited from surgery with nine who did not, the Hopkins team discovered suppressed levels of human beta defensin 2 (HBD2) and mannose binding lectin (MBL) in those whose symptoms returned. The proteins are naturally produced in the nose whenever the immune system detects foreign bacteria or fungi, binding to invading pathogens, inactivating them and making them easily disposed of. (EurekAlert!)
