Human Enteric Defensin 5 Promotes Shigella Infection of Macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Human α-defensins are 3- to 5-kDa disulfide-bridged peptides with a multitude of antimicrobial activities and immunomodulatory functions. Recent studies show that human enteric α-defensin 5 (HD5), a host defense peptide important for intestinal homeostasis and innate immunity, aids the highly infectious enteropathogen Shigella in breaching the intestinal epithelium in vitro and in vivo Whether and how HD5 influences Shigella infection of resident macrophages following its invasion of the intestinal epithelium remain poorly understood. Here, we report that HD5 greatly promoted phagocytosis of Shigella by macrophages by targeting the bacteria to enhance bacterium-to-cell contacts in a structure- and sequence-dependent fashion. Subsequent intracellular multiplication of phagocytosed Shigella

SUBMITTER: Xu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6921650 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature