Host and Pathogen Sensory Systems as Targets for Therapeutic Intervention

ISBN-13: 9783836491129 / Angielski / Miękka / 2008 / 220 str.

Jason Kindrachuk;Scott Napper (University of Saskatchewan Canada)

Opis

A new paradigm for the treatment of infectious disease is through the modulation of innate immune responses. In this capacity, host defense peptides (HDPs) and synthetic Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) ligands have the greatest demonstrated potentials. From the perspective of TLR9, a model is proposed in which TLR9 activation is mediated specifically by CpG-containing ligands while sensitivity of the receptor is modulated by the absolute concentration of nucleic acids in a sequence-independent fashion. Alternatively, a methodology for the characterization of HDPs is described that permits discrimination and quantification of the distinct, but related, behaviors of direct antimicrobial activity and PhoQ ligand potential and provides a rational basis for peptide selection with greater therapeutic potential and minimized potential for initiation of bacterial resistance. The work presented here considers mechanisms for the improvement of these treatments through optimization (in the case of CpGs) or alternatively minimization (in the case of HDPs) of the interactions of these ligands with sensory receptors.

O autorze

Dr. Jason Kindrachuk received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2007
from the University of Saskatchewan and is currently a
postdoctoral fellow at UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Dr. Scott
Napper received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1999 from the
University of Saskatchewan and is the Program Manager of Emerging
Diseases at VIDO in Saskatoon, SK, Canada.