The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.

wikigene or wiki gene protein drug chemical gene disease author authorship tracking collaborative publishing evolutionary knowledge reputation system wiki2.0 global collaboration genes proteins drugs chemicals diseases compound
Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)
 
 
 

Paneth cell defensins: endogenous peptide components of intestinal host defense.

Paneth cells are epithelial granulocytes at the base of the crypts of Lieberkühn in the small intestine of many mammalian species. These secretory cells contribute to mucosal barrier function by the apical release of granules containing a variety of antimicrobial products, including peptides termed cryptdins, for crypt defensins. In mice, six Paneth cell defensins have been characterized at the peptide level that have potent antimicrobial activities equivalent to or greater than that of rabbit neutrophil defensin NP-1. Cryptdin peptides that differ only by single amino acid substitutions have been shown to exhibit a high degree of specificity against certain target microorganisms. Cryptdins are coded by separate, two-exon genes that are located on chromosome 8 in both mice and humans. Human Paneth cells contain high levels of two different defensin mRNAs, but in mice at least 19 cryptdin isoforms are predicted from cDNA sequencing data. The mouse cryptdin-4 gene is expressed with positional specificity along the longitudinal intestinal axis, and cryptdin genes are active in the intestinal epithelium prior to Paneth cell differentiation. Accordingly, Paneth cell defensins are early markers of crypt ontogeny and are therefore useful in studies of lineage determination in the intestinal epithelium. Because cryptdins mediate innate immunity in the hostile environment of the intestinal lumen, it should be of interest to define biochemical and biophysical attributes that adapt these peptides to barrier function of mucosal surfaces.[1]

References

 
WikiGenes - Universities