Infectious diseases account for millions of deaths worldwide each year and incur tremendous health care costs. The disease spectrum is broad and includes respiratory diseases, wound and surgical infections, and other localized and systemic infections and sepsis. Antibiotics and antivirals do not address the excessive and harmful inflammation associated with infections, causing organ and tissue damage. Another serious problem is the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents due to development of antimicrobial resistance. There is therefore high and unmet need for conceptually new treatment approaches that are not solely based on antibiotics and antivirals.
In this context, host defense peptides (HDPs) have emerged as important immunomodulators and promising drug candidates. HDPs are thought to be one of the most ancient forms of immune defense and they are multifunctional - apart from their antimicrobial effects they can also modulate immunological, coagulative, and proliferative pathways. They are widely distributed in nature and are critical in controlling microbes and maintaining immune and cellular homeostasis.
This Research Topic issue aims to update scientists about the recent developments on HDPs – from the discovery to design of new drugs, encompassing the description of molecular pathways through which HDPs exert their immunomodulatory action. One objective of this issue will be to shed light on their structures and actions on microbes and host cells, from specific mechanisms at the molecular level to effects on microbial populations, immunological pathways, and organ functions from a systems perspective. Since HDPs are sensitive to proteolytic and chemical degradation, a second objective will be to describe how recent advances in drug design and delivery can be used in the development of HDPs for various disease indications.
This Research Topic issue aims to collect both Original Research and Review articles focusing on, but not limited to, the following subtopics:
• Novel HDPs of interest as anti-infectives;
• Biological functions of HDPs on microbes and cells;
• Immune cell types involved in HDPs release;
• Molecular pathways affected by HDPs, from cells to systems biology;
• Design of new anti-infective drugs based on HDPs;
• Topical or systemic use of drugs and formulations based on HDPs.
Topic Editor Dr. Artur Schmidtchen is a founder of in2cure AB, a parent company of Xinnate AB, that are developing therapies based on thrombin-derived host defense peptides. Topic Editor Dr. Ganna Petruk is R&D Manager at Xinnate AB. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
Infectious diseases account for millions of deaths worldwide each year and incur tremendous health care costs. The disease spectrum is broad and includes respiratory diseases, wound and surgical infections, and other localized and systemic infections and sepsis. Antibiotics and antivirals do not address the excessive and harmful inflammation associated with infections, causing organ and tissue damage. Another serious problem is the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents due to development of antimicrobial resistance. There is therefore high and unmet need for conceptually new treatment approaches that are not solely based on antibiotics and antivirals.
In this context, host defense peptides (HDPs) have emerged as important immunomodulators and promising drug candidates. HDPs are thought to be one of the most ancient forms of immune defense and they are multifunctional - apart from their antimicrobial effects they can also modulate immunological, coagulative, and proliferative pathways. They are widely distributed in nature and are critical in controlling microbes and maintaining immune and cellular homeostasis.
This Research Topic issue aims to update scientists about the recent developments on HDPs – from the discovery to design of new drugs, encompassing the description of molecular pathways through which HDPs exert their immunomodulatory action. One objective of this issue will be to shed light on their structures and actions on microbes and host cells, from specific mechanisms at the molecular level to effects on microbial populations, immunological pathways, and organ functions from a systems perspective. Since HDPs are sensitive to proteolytic and chemical degradation, a second objective will be to describe how recent advances in drug design and delivery can be used in the development of HDPs for various disease indications.
This Research Topic issue aims to collect both Original Research and Review articles focusing on, but not limited to, the following subtopics:
• Novel HDPs of interest as anti-infectives;
• Biological functions of HDPs on microbes and cells;
• Immune cell types involved in HDPs release;
• Molecular pathways affected by HDPs, from cells to systems biology;
• Design of new anti-infective drugs based on HDPs;
• Topical or systemic use of drugs and formulations based on HDPs.
Topic Editor Dr. Artur Schmidtchen is a founder of in2cure AB, a parent company of Xinnate AB, that are developing therapies based on thrombin-derived host defense peptides. Topic Editor Dr. Ganna Petruk is R&D Manager at Xinnate AB. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.