AIMS Cardiac peptides have diagnostic and prognostic value in heart failure. Their plasma concentrations, however, are sensitive to rapid changes in haemodynamics. As blood sampling under standard conditions is not feasible in clinical practice, it is important to know which peptides are most resistant to change. Therefore, the present study investigated the differences in response to exercise ...

Fungal resistance to traditional drugs calls for new antimicrobial agents. In mammals, defensins and cathelicidins are two major families of antimicrobial peptides. Cathelicidins are cationic peptides with a conserved N-terminal cathelin-like domain and a variable C-terminal antimicrobial domain. Cathelicidins rapidly kill Candida and other yeast spp.1 Candida infection with C albicans is the f...

A simple reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method for a simultaneous analysis of free, glycine- and taurine-amidated bile acids is described. The resolution of ursodeoxycholic, cholic, chenodeocycholic, deoxycholic, and lithocholic acids, either free or amidated with glycine and taurine, is achieved using a C-18 octadecylsilane column (30 cm length, 4 micron particle size) w...

Brain amyloid plaques are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and primarily consist of aggregated Aβ peptides. While Aβ 1-40 and Aβ 1-42 are the most abundant, a number of other Aβ peptides have also been identified. Studies have indicated differential toxicity for these various Aβ peptides, but in vivo toxicity has not been systematically tested. To address this issue, we generated improve...

Two new peptides, tylopeptins A and B, were isolated from the methanol extract of the fruiting body of the mushroom, Tylopilus neofelleus. These peptides were identified as peptaibols possessing an acetylated N-terminal residue, fourteen amino acids, and leucinol as the C-terminal amino alcohol. Sequential determination and complete 1H and 13C resonance assignments were based on positive ion FA...

During passage through the epididymis, sperm interact with secreted epididymal proteins that promote maturation, including the acquisition of motility and fertilization competence. Viewed previously as distinct from sperm maturation, host defence capabilities are now recognized functions of the human epididymis 2 (HE2) family of sperm-binding proteins. We analysed the potent dose and time-depen...