A new paper has been published by the group led by Professor Peter Barlow entitled “Citrullination alters the antiviral and immunomodulatory activities of the human cathelicidin LL-37 during rhinovirus infection” in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. The study was conducted in collaboration with investigators from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the University of Edinburgh, and was funded by an award from the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland).
The study describes how infection with infection with human rhinoviruses (HRV), the most common cause of viral respiratory tract infections, can result in upregulation of peptidyl arginine deiminases (PAD). These enzymes can cause citrullination of LL-37, resulting in the dramatic loss of antiviral and immunomodulatory activity, potentially representing a novel viral evasion mechanism.
The paper is available at Frontiers in Immunology
