Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-6-25
pubmed:abstractText
Human beta-defensins are cationic peptides produced by epithelial cells that have been proposed to be an important component of immune function at mucosal surfaces. In this study, the expression and inducibility of beta-defensins at the ocular surface were investigated in vitro and in vivo. Expression of human beta-defensins (hBD) was determined by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in tissues of the ocular surface and lacrimal apparatus. Cultured corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells were stimulated with proinflammatory cytokines and supernatants of different ocular pathogens. Real-time PCR and ELISA experiments were performed to study the effect on the inducibility of hBD2 and 3. Expression and inducibility of mouse beta-defensins-2, -3 and -4 (mBD2-4) were tested in a mouse ocular surface scratch model with and without treatment of supernatants of a clinical Staphylococcus aureus (SA) isolate by means of immunohistochemistry. Here we show that hBD1, -2, -3 and -4 are constitutively expressed in conjunctival epithelial cells and also partly in cornea. Healthy tissues of the ocular surface, lacrimal apparatus and human tears contain measurable amounts of hBD2 and -3, with highest concentrations in cornea and much lower concentrations in all other tissues, especially tears, suggesting intraepithelial storage of beta-defensins. Exposure of cultured human corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells to proinflammatory cytokines and supernatants of various bacteria revealed that IL-1beta is a very strong inductor of hBD2 and Staphylococcus aureus increases both hBD2 and hBD3 production in corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells. A murine corneal scratch model demonstrated that beta-defensins are only induced if microbial products within the tear film come into contact with a defective epithelium. Our finding suggests that the tear film per se contains so much antimicrobial substances that epithelial induction of beta-defensins occurs only as a result of ocular surface damage. These findings widen our knowledge of the distribution, amount and inducibility of beta-defensins at the ocular surface and lacrimal apparatus and show how beta-defensins are regulated specifically.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1432-119X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
134
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
59-73
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Adult, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Aged, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Aged, 80 and over, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Cells, Cultured, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Conjunctiva, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Cornea, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Epithelial Cells, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Female, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Humans, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Immunity, Innate, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Immunohistochemistry, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Male, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Mice, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Mice, Inbred BALB C, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Middle Aged, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Models, Animal, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:20526610-beta-Defensins
pubmed:year
2010
pubmed:articleTitle
Roles of human beta-defensins in innate immune defense at the ocular surface: arming and alarming corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany. fabian.garreis@anatomie2.med.uni-erlangen.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't