University of Central Lancashire, Preston PR1 2HE, UK.
FASEB J. 2012 May;26(5):1776-81. doi: 10.1096/fj.11-199208. Epub 2012 Feb 3.
Host defense peptides (HDPs) are components of the innate immune system with activity against a broad range of microbes. In some cases, it appears that this activity is mediated by the ability of these peptides to permeabilize microbial membranes via the formation of amyloid associated structures. Recent evidence suggests that the naturally occurring function of the Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides, which are causative agents of Alzheimer's disease, may be to serve as amyloidogenic HDPs. Here, it is hypothesized that the neurotoxicity of these peptides is related to aberrant use of their amyloid-mediated antimicrobial mechanisms, which provides the as yet unexplored paradigm of a relationship among HDPs, neurodegenerative disorders, and other conditions that could contribute to their understanding and remediation.
宿主防御肽（HDPs）是先天免疫系统的组成部分，对多种微生物具有活性。在某些情况下，这种活性似乎是通过这些肽形成与淀粉样蛋白相关的结构来穿透微生物膜来介导的。最近的证据表明，阿尔茨海默病致病因子 Aβ40 和 Aβ42 肽的天然功能可能是作为淀粉样蛋白源性 HDPs 发挥作用。在这里，假设这些肽的神经毒性与其淀粉样蛋白介导的抗菌机制的异常使用有关，这为 HDPs、神经退行性疾病和其他可能有助于理解和修复这些疾病的条件之间的关系提供了一个尚未探索的范例。
