OBJECTIVES: To investigate the expression levels of ghrelin and liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide-2 (LEAP-2) in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) to provide reference for further understanding the etiology of short stature. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted from December 2021 to October 2023, involving 46 children diagnosed with ISS (ISS group) and 46 healthy children with normal height (control group) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Shihezi University. General data and serum levels of ghrelin and LEAP-2 were compared between the two groups. The predictive value of these two indicators for ISS was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. RESULTS: The serum level of ghrelin in the ISS group was higher than that in the control group, while the level of LEAP-2 was lower (P<0.05). The ratio of LEAP-2 to ghrelin was lower in the ISS group compared to the control group (P<0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that HtSDS, IGF-1, ghrelin, LEAP-2, and the ratio of LEAP-2/ghrelin were independently associated with the occurrence of ISS (P<0.05). ROC curve analysis indicated that the AUCs for ghrelin, LEAP-2, the ratio of ghrelin to LEAP-2, and their combination in predicting ISS were all >0.8. The optimal cutoff values for ghrelin, LEAP-2, and the LEAP-2/ghrelin ratio were 5 607 pg/mL, 1 155 pg/mL, and 0.212, respectively. In children with ISS, ghrelin showed a negative correlation with chronological age, LEAP-2, and the LEAP-2/ghrelin ratio (P<0.05), while it was positively correlated with growth rate and peak growth hormone levels (P<0.05). LEAP-2 was negatively correlated with growth rate, peak growth hormone levels, and ghrelin (P<0.05), but positively correlated with chronological age and the LEAP-2/ghrelin ratio (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Ghrelin and LEAP-2 are correlated with the occurrence of ISS, which may provide references for the diagnosis and etiological analysis of children with ISS.
Humans ; Ghrelin/blood* ; Male ; Child ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Child, Preschool ; Growth Disorders/etiology* ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/blood* ; Body Height ; Adolescent ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I/analysis* ; Blood Proteins

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive value of plasma heparin-binding protein (HBP) combined with albumin (Alb) for predicting 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. METHODS: The clinical data of patients with sepsis admitted to the emergency intensive care unit (EICU) of the People's Hospital of Shenzhen Baoan District from March 2020 to March 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. The study began at the time of the first diagnosis of sepsis upon EICU admission and ended upon patient death or at 28 days. The gender, age, length of stay in EICU, underlying diseases, and infection sites were recorded. Within 24 hours of sepsis diagnosis, blood culture results, white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), blood lactate acid (Lac), HBP, Alb, sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II), mortality in emergency department sepsis score (MEDS), modified early warning score (MEWS), number of organ failures, use of vasopressors, application of mechanical ventilation, renal replacement therapy, and 28-day prognosis were recorded, the differences in these indicators between two groups were compared. Univariate and multivariate Logistic regression analyses were used to analyze the risk factors of 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. Receiver operator characteristic curve (ROC curve) was drawn, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the early predictive value of various risk factors for 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. RESULTS: A total of 300 patients with sepsis were included, with 16 excluded, resulting in 284 patients being analyzed. Among them, 191 survived and 93 died within 28 days. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, age, underlying diseases, infection sites, blood culture positivity rate, number of organ failures, and length of stay in EICU. Univariate analysis showed that the rate of vasopressor use, the rate of mechanical ventilation, HBP, PCT, CRP, Lac, SOFA score, APACHE II score, MEDS score, and MEWS score were significantly higher in the death group than those in the survival group, while Alb was significantly lower in the death group than that in the survival group. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that HBP and Alb were independent risk factors for predicting 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis [odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) were 1.093 (0.989-1.128) and 1.174 (1.095-1.259), both P < 0.05]. ROC curve analysis showed that both HBP and Alb had certain predictive value for 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis [AUC and 95%CI were 0.820 (0.717-0.923) and 0.786 (0.682-0.890), both P < 0.05]. When the critical value of HBP was 117.50 μg/L, the sensitivity was 85.90%, and the specificity was 70.50%. When the critical value of Alb was 28.30 g/L, the sensitivity was 69.30%, and the specificity was 81.20%. When the two indexes were combined for diagnosis, the AUC was 0.881 (95%CI was 0.817-0.945, P < 0.001), the sensitivity was 92.70%, and the specificity was 76.80%. CONCLUSIONS HBP and Alb are independent risk factors for predicting 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis. The combined prediction efficiency of HBP and Alb for 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis is superior to a single indicator.
Humans ; Sepsis/diagnosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Intensive Care Units ; Blood Proteins/analysis* ; Prognosis ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/blood* ; APACHE ; Male ; Female ; Organ Dysfunction Scores ; ROC Curve ; Middle Aged ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis* ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Aged ; Hospital Mortality ; Serum Albumin/analysis*

OBJECTIVES: To study the value of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in the diagnosis of severe infection in children. METHODS: This study was a prospective observational study. The medical data of children who were admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit due to infection from January 2019 to January 2020 were collected. According to the diagnostic criteria for severe sepsis and sepsis, the children were divided into a severe sepsis group with 49 children, a sepsis group with 82 children, and a non-severe infection group with 33 children. The three groups were compared in terms of related biomarkers such as plasma HBP, serum C-reactive protein, serum procalcitonin, and platelet count. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to investigate the value of plasma HBP level in the diagnosis of severe infection (including severe sepsis and sepsis). RESULTS: The severe sepsis and sepsis groups had a significantly higher plasma HBP level on admission than the non-severe infection group (P<0.05). Compared with the sepsis and non-severe groups, the severe sepsis group had significantly higher serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin and a significantly lower platelet count (P<0.05). Plasma HBP level had an area under the ROC curve of 0.590 in determining severe infection, with a sensitivity of 38.0% and a specificity of 82.4% (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS There is an increase in plasma HBP level in children with severe infection, and plasma HBP level has a lower sensitivity but a higher specificity in the diagnosis of severe infection and can thus be used as one of the markers for the judgment of severe infection in children.
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; Biomarkers ; Blood Proteins ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis* ; Child ; Humans ; Procalcitonin ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Sepsis/diagnosis*

Objective: To investigate the changes of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in severe burn patients during shock stage and its effects on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and neutrophils in vitro. Methods: Prospective observational and experimental research methods were used. Twenty severe burn patients who met the inclusion criteria and were admitted to the Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery of Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from August to November 2020 were included in severe burn group (12 males and 8 females, aged 44.5 (31.0, 58.0) years). During the same period, 20 healthy volunteers with normal physical examination results in the unit's Physical Examination Center were recruited into healthy control group (13 males and 7 females, aged 39.5 (26.0, 53.0) years). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used to detect the protein expression levels of HBP and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) in plasma of patients within 48 hours after injury in severe burn group and in plasma of volunteers in healthy control group. The correlation between protein expression of HBP and that of TIMP-1 in the plasma in the two groups was analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. The fourth passage of HUVECs in logarithmic growth phase were used for the experiment. The HUVECs were divided into normal control group with routine culture (the same treatment below) and recombinant HBP (rHBP)-treated 12 h group, rHBP-treated 24 h group, and rHBP-treated 48 h group with corresponding treatment according to the random number table (the same grouping method below), and the mRNA expression of TIMP-1 in cells was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The HUVECs were divided into normal control group and rHBP-treated 48 h group with corresponding treatment, and the protein expression of TIMP-1 in the cells was detected by Western blotting. The HUVECs were divided into normal control group, rHBP alone group, aprotinin alone group, and rHBP+aprotinin group treated with the corresponding reagents (with the final molarity of rHBP being 200 nmol/L and the final concentration of aprotinin being 20 μg/mL, respectively), cultured for 48 h, and ELISA was used to detect the protein expression of TIMP-1 in the culture supernatant of cells. The neutrophils were isolated from the peripheral venous blood of the aforementioned 10 healthy volunteers by immunomagnetic bead sorting, and the cells were divided into normal control group, recombinant TIMP-1 (rTIMP-1) alone group, phorbol acetate (PMA) alone group, and rTIMP-1+PMA group treated with corresponding reagents (with the final concentration of rTIMP-1 being 500 ng/mL and the final molarity of PMA being 10 nmol/L, respectively). After being cultured for 1 h, the expression of CD63 protein in cells was detected by immunofluorescence method, the positive expression rate of CD63 protein in cells was detected by flow cytometry, and the protein expression levels of HBP and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in the culture supernatant of cells were detected by ELISA. The normal control group underwent the above-mentioned related tests at appropriate time points. The number of samples was 3 in each group of cell experiment. Data were statistically analyzed with chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Tamhane's T2 test. Results: The protein expression levels of HBP and TIMP-1 in the plasma of patients in severe burn group were 404.9 (283.1, 653.2) and 262.1 (240.6, 317.4) ng/mL, respectively, which were both significantly higher than 61.6 (45.0, 68.9) and 81.0 (66.3, 90.0) ng/mL of volunteers in healthy control group (with Z values of -5.41 and -5.21, respectively, P<0.01). The correlation between the protein expression of HBP and that of TIMP-1 in the plasma of volunteers in healthy control group was not strong (P>0.05). The protein expression of HBP was significantly positively correlated with that of TIMP-1 in the plasma of patients in severe burn group (r=0.64, P<0.01). Compared with that in normal control group, the mRNA expression of TIMP-1 in HUVECs was significantly increased in rHBP-treated 12 h group, rHBP-treated 24 h group, and rHBP-treated 48 h group (with t values of -3.58, -2.25, and -1.26, respectively, P<0.05). Western blotting detection showed that compared with that in normal control group, the protein expression of TIMP-1 in HUVECs in rHBP-treated 48 h group was significantly enhanced. After 48 h of culture, compared with that in normal control group, the protein expression level of TIMP-1 in the culture supernatant of HUVECs in rHBP alone group was significantly increased (t=9.43, P<0.05), while the protein expression level of TIMP-1 in the culture supernatant of HUVECs didn't change significantly in aprotinin alone group or rHBP+aprotinin group (P>0.05); compared with that in rHBP alone group, the protein expression level of TIMP-1 in the culture supernatant of HUVECs in rHBP+aprotinin group was significantly decreased (t=4.76, P<0.01). After 1 h of culture, the trend of CD63 protein expression in neutrophils detected by immunofluorescence method and that by flow cytometry were consistent in each group. After 1 h of culture, compared with that in normal control group, the positive expression rate of CD63 protein in the neutrophils and the protein expression levels of HBP and MPO in the culture supernatant of cells in rTIMP-1 alone group all had no significant changes (P>0.05), while the positive expression rate of CD63 protein in the neutrophils and the protein expression levels of HBP and MPO in the culture supernatant of cells were all significantly increased in PMA alone group and rTIMP-1+PMA group (with t values of 2.41, 3.82, 5.73, 1.05, 4.16, and 1.08, respectively, P<0.05 or P<0.01); compared with that in PMA alone group, the positive expression rate of CD63 protein in the neutrophils and the protein expression levels of HBP and MPO in the culture supernatant of cells in rTIMP-1+PMA group were all significantly decreased (with t values of 5.26, 2.83, and 1.26, respectively, P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusions: The expression level of HBP in the plasma of severe burn patients is increased during shock stage. HBP can induce HUVECs to secrete TIMP-1 in vitro, and TIMP-1 can reduce the expression of CD63 molecule in human neutrophils.
Adult ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; Blood Proteins ; Burns ; Female ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; Humans ; Male ; Neutrophils ; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1

OBJECTIVE: To explore the predictive value of heparin-binding protein (HBP) combined with sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score in patients with septic shock. METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with sepsis admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Henan Provincial People's Hospital from December 2016 to May 2017 were enrolled. Thirty healthy persons were enrolled as controls. The patient's gender, age, length of ICU stay, and blood culture results, white blood cell count (WBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin (PCT), blood lactate (Lac), HBP, SOFA score, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, organ failure and vasoactive agents usage within 24 hours of admission were recorded. The differences in the above indicators between the groups were compared, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to evaluate the predictive value of HBP, SOFA score and their combination in patients with septic shock. RESULTS: All patients were enrolled in the final analysis, including 64 with sepsis and 14 with septic shock. Compared with the sepsis group, the proportion of patients with septic shock who were positive for blood culture, organ failure, and vasoactive agents was higher [57.1% (8/14) vs. 7.8% (5/64), 100.0% (14/14) vs. 65.6% (42/64), 100.0% (14/14) vs. 18.8% (12/64), all P < 0.01], SOFA and APACHE II scores were also higher (SOFA: 8.93±4.16 vs. 5.89±2.68, APACHE II: 22.29±4.89 vs. 15.28±5.14, both P < 0.01); however, there was no significant difference in gender, age or length of ICU stay between the two groups. Compared with the healthy control group, HBP, PCT, CRP and Lac levels were significantly increased in the sepsis group and the septic shock group. HBP in the septic shock group was significantly higher than that in the sepsis group (μg/L: 120.33±43.49 vs. 68.95±54.15, P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference in PCT, CRP or Lac between septic shock group and sepsis group [PCT (μg/L): 1.42 (0.47, 46.00) vs. 0.71 (0.19, 4.50), CRP (mg/L): 102.90±78.12 vs. 102.07±72.15, Lac (mmol/L): 1.81 (1.14, 3.65) vs. 1.59 (1.17, 2.24), all P > 0.05]. It was shown by ROC curve analysis that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of SOFA score for predicting septic shock was 0.715 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.540-0.890, P = 0.012], and when the optimal cut-off value was 7.5, the sensitivity was 64.3%, the specificity was 76.6%. The AUC of HBP was 0.814 (95%CI = 0.714-0.913, P < 0.001), and when the optimal cut-off value was 89.43 μg/L, the sensitivity was 78.6%, the specificity was 76.6%; when the two were combined, the AUC was 0.829 (95%CI = 0.724-0.935, P < 0.001), the sensitivity was 92.9%, and the specificity was 61.9%. CONCLUSIONS HBP can be used as a biological indicator for predicting septic shock, and the accuracy of predicting septic shock can be improved with the combination of SOFA score.
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/analysis* ; Blood Proteins/analysis* ; Carrier Proteins/analysis* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Organ Dysfunction Scores ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Shock, Septic/diagnosis*

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the application of heparin-binding protein (HBP) in diagnosis of sepsis in adult patients. METHODS: An extensive search for the Chinese and English literatures from the PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Wanfang data, CNKI and VIP up to July 2019 was performed. The articles regarding HBP for the diagnosing of sepsis in adult patients were enrolled. Two researchers independently extracted related literature. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. Meta-Disc 1.4 and STATA 12.0 were used for Meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. Summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of HBP for sepsis. Deek funnel plot was used to detect publication bias. RESULTS: A total of 10 studies with 1 884 patients were included in this Meta-analysis. The quality of the literature was relatively moderate. HBP in plasma were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in all studies. The studies showed substantial heterogeneity, and random effect model was used for Meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivity, specificity, PLR, NLR, and DOR were 0.80 [95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 0.77-0.83], 0.80 (95%CI was 0.78-0.82), 3.96 (95%CI was 2.45-6.41), 0.28 (95%CI was 0.20-0.39) and 14.63 (95%CI was 6.83-31.30) respectively. The pooled AUC was 0.86 and the Cochran-Q was 0.79. To explore the potential sources of heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were performed based on the severity of the disease, diagnostic criteria and region. However, the results indicated that no methodological covariates affected the diagnostic accuracy of HBP, indicating that there was still unexplained heterogeneity. In addition, the sensitivity analysis by removing individual studies were performed. No outlier study was identified and the results were relatively stable and reliable. Deek funnel plot showed little publication bias. CONCLUSIONS There is preferable value of HBP for diagnosis of sepsis in adult patients. However, it needs to be further confirmed by large multicenter studies.
Adult ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/metabolism* ; Blood Proteins/metabolism* ; Humans ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sepsis/metabolism*

Bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) can bind to and specifically neutralize lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. In order to evaluate potent LPS-neutralizing activity of bovine BPI, the full-length coding sequence (1 449bp) or 714 bp N-terminal coding sequence (BPI714) of bovine BPI was transfected into mHEK293 cells and the expression of LPS-induced inflammatory cytokines was studied. First, we constructed the lentiviral expression vectors and generated mHEK293 cells stably expressing recombinant bovine BPI or BPI714. Then, we detected the expression of IL-8, IL-1β, TNF-α, NF-κB-1 and NF-κB-2 genes by real-time PCR at 0, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h post of LPS induction in cells with or without recombinant bovine BPI or BPI714 ectopic expression, respectively. In response to LPS, the robust abundance of inflammatory cytokines including IL-8, IL-1β, TNF-α and NF-κB-2 was observed in wild type mHEK293 cells at eachtime point. On the contrary, mRNA abundance of IL-8, TNF-α and NF-κB-2 in transfected mHEK293 cells showed no significant changes at each indicated time point. Our results demonstrated that recombinant bovine full length BPI or BPI714 down-regulated the expression of inflammatory cytokines and revealed that either of bovine BPI or BPI714 was able to inhibit the immune respond stimulated by LPS. This study provides evidence for further investigating the mechanisms and application of BPI/LPS-neutralizing activity and also documents a reliable approach for analysis of the efficacy of antibacterial proteins.
Animals ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; chemistry ; Blood Proteins ; chemistry ; Cattle ; Cytokines ; biosynthesis ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Interleukins ; biosynthesis ; Lipopolysaccharides ; chemistry ; NF-kappa B ; biosynthesis ; Transfection ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; biosynthesis

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin plays a central role in the regulation of iron metabolism, and hepatic iron production is stimulated by iron load and inflammation. Recent animal studies have shown that hepcidin levels increase when hematopoiesis is blocked. We aimed to monitor pre- and post-stem cell transplantation hepcidin levels and evaluate its association with hematologic recovery. METHODS: The study group comprised 12 patients with hematologic malignancies (7 with AML, 4 with ALL, and 1 with refractory anemia with excess blasts-2) undergoing allogeneic peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (PBSCT). One day before and 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks after PBSCT, reticulocyte count and levels of Hb, ferritin, and C-reactive protein were monitored; serum hepcidin-25 was measured by ELISA. RESULTS: The median serum hepcidin-25 levels (ng/mL) were significantly higher until 1 week after PBSCT (103.6, 103.3, and 96.5) than those at 2, 4, and 8 weeks after PBSCT (63.9, 53.9, and 56.6, respectively). The reticulocyte count also significantly increased from 2 weeks after PBSCT. The hepcidin level showed an inverse correlation with reticulocyte count (r=-0.56, P<0.001) and a weak positive correlation with ferritin (r=0.27, P=0.02). At 2 weeks, patients with high hepcidin levels (> or =63.9) tended to demonstrate lower Hb recovery at 8 weeks than patients with low hepcidin levels did (P=0.15), but without any differences in the incidence of complications. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that hepcidin production is associated with erythropoietic activity and that hepcidin level may be used as an early marker of hematopoietic recovery in PBSCT.
Anemia, Refractory ; Animals ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; C-Reactive Protein ; Cell Transplantation ; Ferritins ; Hematologic Neoplasms ; Hematopoiesis ; Humans ; Incidence ; Inflammation ; Iron ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation ; Reticulocyte Count ; Stem Cell Transplantation ; Transplants

This study was purposed to investigate the inhibitory effect of bactericidal permeability-increasing protein (BPI) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated activation of platelets. Venous blood samples were obtained from 10 healthy volunteers and were prepared into platelet-rich plasma (PRP, 1 × 10(8)/ml). Experiments were divided into four groups: normal platelet group (untreated group); LPS group, BPI group and BPI+LPS group. PRP were stimulated by LPS (10 µg/ml) in the presence and absence of BPI (100 µg/ml) or BPI alone. Then platelets were harvested and determined for Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4) with flow cytometry (FCM), the supernatant was used for detection of cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that as compared with normal platelet group, TLR-4 expression on platelets was significantly increased under LPS stimulation (P < 0.001); the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the supernatant were also remarkably elevated (P < 0.001). However, either TLR-4 expression or the cytokine levels significantly decreased in the presence of BPI when platelets underwent LPS-challenge (P < 0.05), but still were higher than that in normal platelet group. Stimulating the platelets with BPI alone could not enhance the TLR-4 expression and cytokine levels. It is concluded that BPI has the ability to inhibit the LPS-induced platelet activation.
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; pharmacology ; Blood Proteins ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Lipopolysaccharides ; adverse effects ; Platelet Activation ; drug effects ; Platelet-Rich Plasma ; metabolism ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; metabolism

Antibacterial peptides are a family of host-defense peptides most of which are gene-encoded and produced by living organisms of all types. Antibacterial peptides are small molecular proteins with broad antimicrobial spectrum against bacteria, viruses, fungi and sometimes even as anticancer peptide. SMAP-29, a cathelicidin-like peptide derived from sheep myeloid, line alpha-helical Structure, exerts a powerful broad antimicrobial activity against different pathogens including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites, spirochaetes, chlamydia and antiendotoxin activity, and particular antibacterial mechanism, rapidly to permeabilize membranes of susceptible organisms. This paper summarizes the lately research progress of SMAP-29 and Variants including the characteristics of structure, structure-activity relationships, mode of action, diverse biological functions, gene recombinant and expression. We put emphasis on the necessity of molecular design, and primary and secondary structure-based modification, to provides a strong foundation for further drug development and design of SMAP-29.
Animals ; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides ; chemistry ; genetics ; physiology ; Blood Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; physiology ; Cathelicidins ; chemistry ; genetics ; physiology ; Drug Design ; Recombinant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; Sheep