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Cytokine-mediated regulation of antimicrobial proteins

Nature Reviews Immunology volume 8, pages 829–835 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Antimicrobial proteins constitute a phylogenetically ancient form of innate immunity that provides host defence at skin and mucosal surfaces. Although some components of this system are constitutively expressed, new evidence reviewed in this Progress article shows that the production of certain antimicrobial proteins by epithelial cells can also be regulated by cytokines of the innate and adaptive immune systems. In particular, the effector cytokines interleukin-17 and interleukin-22, which are produced by the T-helper-17-cell subset, are emerging as crucial regulators of antimicrobial-peptide production in the gut and the lungs. This suggests that this T-cell lineage and its cytokines have important roles in skin and mucosal immunity.

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Figure 1: Antimicrobial protein structure and functional domains.
Figure 2: Cytokine networks and antimicrobial peptides at epithelial-cell surfaces.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA, to J.K.K (P50HL084932 and R01HL079142) and P.B.M. (P50HL61234), grants from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust to P.B.M. and a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to Y.R.C. (K08HL089189).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jay K. Kolls is at the Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, 3705 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.,

    Jay K. Kolls

  2. Paul B. McCray Jr is at the Division of Allergy and Pulmonology, Department of Pediatrics, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.,

    Paul B. McCray Jr

  3. Yvonne R. Chan is at the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, 3459 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.,

    Yvonne R. Chan

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Correspondence to Jay K. Kolls.

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Kolls, J., McCray, P. & Chan, Y. Cytokine-mediated regulation of antimicrobial proteins. Nat Rev Immunol 8, 829–835 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri2433

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