Journal
JOURNAL OF INNATE IMMUNITY
Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 248-259Publisher
KARGER
DOI: 10.1159/000334566
Keywords
Canine beta-defensin; Skin; Antimicrobial peptides; Epidermis; Atopic dermatitis
Categories
Funding
- UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Center for Companion Animal Health
- NIH [AI32738, AI50843, AI76246, T32AI60555, T32RR021312]
- UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The skin functions as more than a physical barrier to infection. Epithelial cells of the skin can synthesize antimicrobial peptides, including defensins, which exhibit direct antimicrobial activity. Here we characterize the expression pattern, genetic variation and activity of the major beta-defensin expressed in canine skin, canine p-defensin 103 (CBD103). The gene encoding CBD103 exhibits two forms of polymorphism: a common 3-basepair deletion allele and a gene copy-number variation. Golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers were the only breeds that encoded the variant allele of CBD103, termed CBD103 Delta G23. Both these breeds also exhibited a CBD103 gene copy-number polymorphism that ranged from 2 to 4 gene-copies per diploid genome. Recombinant CBD103 and CBD103 Delta G23, as well as the human ortholog human beta-defensin 3 (hBD3) and hBD3 Delta G23, showed potent and comparable antimicrobial killing against both methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Skin biopsy specimens from dogs with atopic dermatitis revealed CBD103 expression levels similar to those in healthy controls and comparable at lesional and nonlesional sites. This expression pattern in dogs differs from the previously reported reduced expression of the human ortholog in atopic dermatitis. Overall, the similarities of CBD103 and its human ortholog reported here support the notion that the domestic dog may serve as a valuable model for studying p-defensin biology in the skin. Copyright 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available