Isolation and characterization of human defensin cDNA clones

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.85.19.7327· OSTI ID:5478274

Daher, K A; Lehrer, R I; Ganz, T; Kronenberg, M ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (USA)

Four clones that encode defensins, a group of microbicidal and cytotoxic peptides made by neutrophils, were isolated from an HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cDNA library. Analysis of these clones indicated that the defensins are made as precursor proteins, which must be cleaved to yield the mature peptides. Defensin mRNA was detected in normal bone marrow cells, but not in normal peripheral blood leukocytes. Defensin transcripts were also found in the peripheral leukocytes of some leukemia patients and in some lung and intestine tissues. Defensin mRNA content was augmented by treatment of HL-60 cells with dimethyl sulfoxide. These results define important aspects of the mechanism of synthesis and the tissue-specific expression of a major group of neutrophil granule proteins.

• OSTI ID: 5478274
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America; (USA), Vol. 85:19; ISSN 0027-8424
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
IMMUNITY
GENE REGULATION
PEPTIDES
DNA-CLONING
RECOMBINANT DNA
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE
AUTORADIOGRAPHY
DMSO
ESCHERICHIA COLI
LEUKEMIA
LEUKOCYTES
MESSENGER-RNA
PATIENTS
BACTERIA
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
BLOOD
BLOOD CELLS
BODY FLUIDS
CLONING
DISEASES
DNA
DNA HYBRIDIZATION
HEMIC DISEASES
HYBRIDIZATION
IMMUNE SYSTEM DISEASES
MATERIALS
MICROORGANISMS
NEOPLASMS
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC SULFUR COMPOUNDS
PROTEINS
RNA
SULFOXIDES
550201* - Biochemistry- Tracer Techniques