Host defense systems including calprotectin, lactoferrin, hepcidin, and other nutritional immunity proteins. 29 articles in this category.
Antimicrobial Metals Antimicrobial metals are metal ions and metal based materials that kill or inhibit microorganisms. Copper, silver, zinc, and gallium are the principal agents...
Autoimmunity Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own tissues. What has emerged over the past two decades is that the gut microbiome is not merel...
Biofilm Structured microbial communities encased in a self produced extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix. Biofilms are the predominant mode of bacterial an...
Calprotectin (S100A8/A9) A heterodimer of S100A8 and S100A9 calcium binding proteins that constitutes approximately 60% of the cytosolic protein content of neutrophils. Calprotectin ...
Cysteine Cysteine is a sulfur containing amino acid whose thiol ( SH) group makes it the primary metal binding residue in biology. It is the rate limiting precursor f...
Dietary Iron And Gut Ecology iron occupies a unique position among dietary metals: it is both an essential nutrient and a selective pressure that shapes the gut microbial ecosystem. The ...
Dyshomeostasis The pathological disruption of normal metal homeostasis — the tightly regulated balance of essential trace elements (iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium,...
Ferritin The primary intracellular iron storage protein, capable of sequestering up to 4,500 iron atoms in a single molecule as a mineralized ferric oxyhydroxide core...
Ferroportin The only known cellular iron exporter in mammals. Encoded by the SLC40A1 gene, ferroportin (FPN) sits on the basolateral membrane of enterocytes, the surface...
Glutathione (GSH) The most abundant intracellular thiol and the master antioxidant of mammalian cells. Glutathione is a tripeptide (gamma glutamyl cysteinyl glycine) whose sul...
Hepcidin The master regulator of systemic iron homeostasis. Hepcidin is a 25 amino acid peptide hormone produced primarily by hepatocytes that controls iron absorptio...
IFN Gamma (Interferon Gamma) Interferon gamma (IFN γ) is the signature Th1 cytokine and the primary activator of macrophage antimicrobial functions. In the WikiBiome framework, IFN γ is ...
Innate Immunity Innate immunity is the body's first line, non specific defense against pathogens — comprising physical barriers (epithelium, mucus), antimicrobial molecules ...
Inter Kingdom Metal Shielding Microbial communities do not acquire and use metals in isolation. Within biofilms, polymicrobial infections, and the gut microbiome, microbes engage in compl...
Lactoferrin An iron binding glycoprotein of the transferrin family that sequesters iron (and potentially other metals) from pathogens at mucosal surfaces and sites of in...
Lipocalin 2 Lipocalin 2 (also known as NGAL — neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin, or siderocalin) is a 25 kDa secreted protein produced by activated neutrophils,...
Metal Homeostasis The biological processes by which organisms maintain proper intracellular and systemic concentrations of essential metals importing what is needed, storing e...
Metal Dependent Virulence Transition metals serve as essential cofactors for pathogen virulence factors across virtually all domains of microbial life. The dependence of pathogens on ...
Metal Driven Inflammation Inflammation is a broad concept, but in the metallomics context it has a specific character: heavy metals and pathogens activate overlapping inflammatory pat...
Microbial Metallomics Microbial metallomics is the study of how metals and microorganisms interact at the systems level — how metal availability shapes microbial communities, how ...
N Acetylcysteine (NAC) N acetylcysteine (NAC) is the acetylated form of the amino acid L cysteine and serves as the rate limiting precursor for glutathione synthesis — the body's p...
Nutritional Immunity (Metal Sequestration) The strategy by which mammalian hosts withhold essential metals from invading pathogens to limit their growth. Well established for iron and zinc; underexplo...
Pathogen Metal Acquisition Systems Pathogens deploy dedicated cellular machinery to import, store, regulate, and when necessary export transition metals. These systems complement the extracell...
Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Reactive oxygen species — superoxide (O2•−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and hydroxyl radical (OH•) — are chemically reactive molecules generated during normal...
Siderophore Competition Small, high affinity iron chelating molecules secreted by bacteria and fungi to scavenge ferric iron (Fe3+) from the environment. Siderophore competition is ...
Siderophores Siderophores are small, high affinity iron chelating molecules secreted by bacteria, fungi, and some plants to scavenge ferric iron (Fe3+) from their environ...
Siderophores And Metallophores Siderophores and metallophores are small molecule chelators secreted by pathogens to scavenge metals from the metal scarce host environment. They represent t...
Superoxide Dismutase Superoxide dismutases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide radical (O2 ) into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and molecular oxygen the fir...
Transferrin Transferrin is a glycoprotein (β₁ globulin, ~80 kDa) synthesized primarily by the liver that functions as the principal iron transport protein in blood plasm...