IMR Press / FBS / Volume 4 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.2741/S339

Frontiers in Bioscience-Scholar (FBS) is published by IMR Press from Volume 13 Issue 1 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Antimicrobial peptides in the brain: neuropeptides and amyloid
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1 Division of Immunopathology of the Nervous System, University of Tuebingen, Calwer Str. 3, 72076 Tuebingen, Germany
2 Department of Preventive Medicine, Medical School of Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Schol Ed) 2012, 4(4), 1375–1380; https://doi.org/10.2741/S339
Published: 1 June 2012
Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are ancient defense molecules of the innate immune system. Similarly, neuropeptides are ancient signaling molecules. Similarities in size, cationic charge or amphipatic design between some neuropeptides and AMPs suggest that they might serve an additional function in antimicrobial immunity. This hypothesis, supported by experimental evidence, adds another level of understanding to the intricate crosstalk between the nervous system and the immune system. The recent observation, that another brain protein, amyloid-beta, has antimicrobial activities, suggests that this peptide, prominently known as an accumulating toxic waste material, might have a physiologic function as anti-infective agent.

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