About this Research Topic
Numerous chemokines kill bacteria during in vitro culture. Such antimicrobial chemokines are part of a large family of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which greatly differ in structure, tissue location and modes(s) of microbial killing. Antimicrobial chemokines are not well understood in terms of their physiological function and mode(s) of antimicrobial activity. Outstanding questions address the structure(s) in chemokines that are responsible for bacterial killing and for discriminating between bacterial membranes and host cell membranes. At present we also still speculate about the tissue location(s) where antimicrobial chemokines are expected to be most useful. It is further not known whether the chemoattractant functions of chemokines are tied together with their AMP function. New animal models able to distinguish between these distinct chemokines functions are highly desirable. The discussion about antimicrobial chemokines will also include the large family of bona fide AMPs, such as the well studied defensins and cathelicidins, and the possibility of their translation into novel antimicrobial reagents. This research topic welcomes articles that will help to resolve one or more of these timely questions.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
