Since Okamoto et al. showed that the effective dose of synthetic hBD2 was 1.5 μg/ml, we can hypothesize that the chemotactic activity of hBD2 rather then its direct antifungal activity plays a more important role in the protection of the infected host [20]. However, antifungal activity of defensins in synergy with other antifungal factors in vivo cannot be excluded. Co-localisation analysis of hBD2 and A. fumigatus morphotypes Selleck Combretastatin A4 allow us to detect RC or SC stained with hBD2 antibody in contrast to HF; these observations confirm the different mechanism of hBD2 induction by various morphotypes. Our findings are in agreement with the observations of Lopez Bezzera

et al. who found that A. fumigatus conidia and hyphae injure endothelial cells via different mechanisms [44]. This difference between the different growth phases of A. fumigatus could be due to the discrepancy of the mechanisms of defensin induction, which may possibly be related to the diverse types/numbers of molecules involved in this process. Immunofluorescence analysis of inducible hBD2 expression by cells exposed to live A. fumigatus organisms revealed the perinuclear staining of

peptide, similar to the staining observed in cells exposed to fixed A. fumigatus, pointing to the biological significance of our findings. Given the fact that conidia germinate and form hyphae after epithelial cells are exposed to live A. fumigatus conidia for 18 hours, in agreement with previous observation [44], we can then hypothesize that defensin expression is possibly induced MK0683 order by different morphotypes in this experiment. Our observations of the induced defensin expression in the airway epithelial cells treated with Il-1 β or TNF-α, the cytokines that play an important role during Aspergillus infection Docetaxel in vivo [45, 46], suggest that defensin expression in infected cells may be induced

by A. fumigatus organisms, as well as by the cytokines involved in the infectious process. Therefore, the SN-38 regulation of defensin expression during Aspergillus infection may possibly depend on a variety of factors. Significant decrease of defensin expression by neutralising anti-IL-1β antibody, added to the cells prior exposure to SC, reflects the autocrine mechanism of defensin induction. A statistically insignificant decrease of defensin expression in the cells treated with anti-IL-1β antibody and exposed to RC or HF supported the hypothesis that the host immune system may distinguish and react differently towards divers Aspergillus morphotypes. Finally, to better understand defensin synthesis, we investigated the involvement of transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms in the regulation of defensin synthesis. The inducible expression of hBD2 and hBD9 by cells exposed to all morphotypes of A. fumigatus was inhibited by pre-treatment with actinomycin D, implying that defensin genes are regulated at the transcriptional level.