Zoological Institute, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
Georgetown University Hospital, Washington, DC, USA.
mBio. 2021 Oct 26;12(5):e0184721. doi: 10.1128/mBio.01847-21. Epub 2021 Sep 28.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are short and generally positively charged peptides found in a wide variety of life forms from microorganisms to humans. Their wide range of activity against pathogens, including Gram-positive and -negative bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and enveloped viruses makes them a fundamental component of innate immunity. Marra et al. (A. Marra, M. A. Hanson, S. Kondo, B. Erkosar, B. Lemaitre, mBio 12:e0082421, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00824-21) use the analytical potential of to show that AMPs and lysozymes play a direct role in controlling the composition and abundance of the beneficial gut microbiome. By comparing mutant and wild-type flies, they demonstrated that the specific loss of AMPs and lysozyme production results in changes in microbiome abundance and composition. Furthermore, they established that AMPs and lysozyme are particularly essential in aging flies. Studies of early emerging metazoans, other invertebrates, and humans support the view of an ancestral function of AMPs in controlling microbial colonization.
抗菌肽 (AMPs) 是一类短肽，通常带正电荷，广泛存在于从微生物到人类的各种生命形式中。它们对病原体（包括革兰氏阳性和阴性细菌、酵母、真菌和包膜病毒）具有广泛的活性，使它们成为先天免疫的基本组成部分。Marra 等人（A. Marra, M. A. Hanson, S. Kondo, B. Erkosar, B. Lemaitre, mBio 12:e0082421, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00824-21）利用 的分析潜力表明，抗菌肽和溶菌酶在控制有益肠道微生物组的组成和丰度方面发挥直接作用。通过比较突变体和野生型果蝇，他们证明了 AMPs 和溶菌酶的特异性缺失会导致微生物组丰度和组成的变化。此外，他们还证实 AMPs 和溶菌酶在衰老果蝇中尤为重要。对早期出现的后生动物、其他无脊椎动物和人类的研究支持 AMPs 在控制微生物定植方面具有祖先功能的观点。
