Molecular Info® Copy Right © 2001
Institute of Molecular Development LLC
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Antimicrobials: Peptide antibiotics in mast cells of fish
UMAPORN SILPHADUANG AND EDWARD J. NOGA
The Nature, November 2001, 414: 268 - 269.
Antimicrobial peptides are recognized as a critical first line of defence against many pathogens and have been isolated from epithelial tissues and blood cells of many
vertebrates, as well as from prokaryotes, plants and invertebrates.
'Piscidins', a family of peptide antibiotics isolated from fish, reside in mast cells, an immune cell of uncertain function that is present in all vertebrate classes. Until now, no peptide antibiotic has been isolated from the mast cells of any animal, and this discovery indicates that these cells may be critical in fighting many infectious diseases.
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