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Infection and Immunity, December 2008, p. 5883-5891, Vol. 76, No. 12
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01100-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation, Synthesis, and Antimicrobial Activities of Naturally Occurring -Defensin Isoforms from Baboon Leukocytes

Angie E. Garcia, George Ösapay, Patti A. Tran, Jun Yuan, and Michael E. Selsted^*

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, California 92697

Received 3 September 2008/ Returned for modification 30 September 2008/ Accepted 3 October 2008

-Defensins are macrocyclic antimicrobial peptides that were previously isolated from leukocytes of a single species, the rhesus macaque. We now report the characterization of baboon -defensins (BTDs) expressed in bone marrow and peripheral blood leukocytes. Four cDNAs encoding -defensin precursors were characterized, allowing for the prediction of 10 theoretical -defensins (BTD-1 to BTD-10) produced by binary, head-to-tail splicing of nonapeptides excised from paired precursors. Five of the predicted -defensins were purified from baboon leukocytes, and synthetic versions of each were prepared. Anti--defensin antibody localized the peptides in circulating neutrophils and monocytes and in immature and mature myeloid elements in bone marrow. Each of the BTDs possessed antimicrobial activity against bacterial and fungal test organisms in vitro. Peptide activities varied markedly despite a high degree of sequence conservation among the -defensins tested. Thus, baboons express numerous -defensins which appear to differentially contribute to host defense against diverse pathogens.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4800. Phone: (949) 824-2350. Fax: (949) 824-2346. E-mail: michael.selsted{at}uci.edu

Published ahead of print on 13 October 2008.

Editor: A. J. Bäumler

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Infection and Immunity, December 2008, p. 5883-5891, Vol. 76, No. 12
0019-9567/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01100-08
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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