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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2001, p. 370-375, Vol. 8, No. 2
Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I,
Hospital of the University of Munich, Campus
Großhadern,1 and Anatomische
Anstalt,2 Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität,
Munich, Germany, and Institute for Human Gene Therapy,
Department of Medicine and Molecular and Cellular Engineering,
University of Pennsylvania and The Wistar
Institute,3 and Division of
Pulmonary Medicine, Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia,4 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Received 31 July 2000/Returned for modification 19 October
2000/Accepted 5 December 2000
One component of host defense at mucosal surfaces appears to be
epithelium-derived antimicrobial peptides. Molecules of the defensin
and cathelicidin families have been studied in several species,
including human and mouse. We describe in this report the
identification and characterization of rhesus monkey homologues of
human mucosal antimicrobial peptides. Using reverse transcriptase PCR
methodology, we cloned the cDNAs of rhesus monkey
1071-412X/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.8.2.370-375.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta) Mucosal
Antimicrobial Peptides Are Close Homologues of Human
Molecules
-defensin 1 and 2 (rhBD-1 and rhBD-2) and rhesus monkey LL-37/CAP-18 (rhLL-37/rhCAP-18). The predicted amino acid sequences showed a high degree of homology to
the human molecules. The expression of the monkey antimicrobial peptides was analyzed using immunohistochemistry with three polyclonal antibodies to the human molecules. As in humans, rhesus monkey antimicrobial peptides are expressed in epithelia of various organs. The present study demonstrates that
-defensins and cathelicidins of
rhesus monkeys are close homologues to the human molecules and indicate
that nonhuman primates represent valid model organisms to study innate
immune functions.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Medizinische
Klinik und Poliklinik I, Hospital of the University of Munich, Campus Großhadern, Schwerpunkt Pneumologie, Marchioninistr. 15, 81377 München, Germany. Phone: 49 (0)89 7095 3071. Fax: 49 (0)89 7095 8877. E-mail: rbals{at}med1.med.uni-muenchen.de.
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