WikiBiomeThe human microbiome encyclopediaRanked matches across titles, topics, categories, and article introductions, filtered to defense.
A heterodimer of S100A8 and S100A9 calcium-binding proteins that constitutes approximately 60% of the cytosolic protein content of neutrophils. Calprotectin is a central effector of nutritional immunity, sequestering essential transition metals from invading pathogens a…
The only known cellular iron exporter in mammals. Encoded by the SLC40A1 gene, ferroportin (FPN) sits on the basolateral membrane of enterocytes, the surface of macrophages, and the membrane of hepatocytes, controlling the flow of iron from these cells into the bloodstr…
The most abundant intracellular thiol and the master antioxidant of mammalian cells. Glutathione is a tripeptide (gamma-glutamyl-cysteinyl-glycine) whose sulfhydryl (-SH) group makes it both a critical antioxidant and a primary target for heavy metal binding. GSH deplet…
Lipocalin-2 (also known as NGAL — neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, or siderocalin) is a 25 kDa secreted protein produced by activated neutrophils, epithelial cells, and other innate immune cells. Its primary antimicrobial function is to sequester bacterial si…
The strategy by which mammalian hosts withhold essential metals from invading pathogens to limit their growth. Well-established for iron and zinc; underexplored but potentially powerful for nickel.
Siderophores and metallophores are small-molecule chelators secreted by pathogens to scavenge metals from the metal-scarce host environment. They represent the extracellular arm of pathogen metal acquisition -- how pathogens reach out into the surrounding milieu to capt…
Superoxide dismutases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide radical (O2-) into hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and molecular oxygen -- the first line of defense against oxidative damage in all aerobic organisms. What makes SOD uniquely important in mic…