Journal
IN VITRO CELLULAR & DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY-ANIMAL
Volume 46, Issue 6, Pages 560-565Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11626-009-9271-9
Keywords
Human alpha-defensin-5; Toxoplasma gondii; Aggregation; Parasiticidal activity
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Funding
- Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution (BRAIN)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
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Human defensins play a fundamental role in the initiation of innate immune responses to some microbial pathogens. In this paper, we show that human alpha-defensin-5 displays a parasiticidal role against Toxoplasma gondii, the causative agent of toxoplasmosis. Exposure of the tachyzoite form of T. gondii to defensin induced aggregation and significantly reduced parasite viability in a concentration-dependent peptide. Pre-incubation of tachyzoites with human alpha-defensin-5 followed by exposure to a mouse embryonal cell line (NIH/3T3) significantly reduced T. gondii infection in these cells. Thus, human alpha-defensin-5 is an innate immune molecule that causes severe toxocity to T. gondii and plays an important role in reducing cellular infection. This is the first report showing that human alpha-defensin-5 causes aggregation, leading to Toxoplasma destruction.
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