| Cecropin family | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Model of Drosophila melanogaster Cecropin A | |||||||||
| Identifiers | |||||||||
| Symbol | Cecropin | ||||||||
| Pfam | PF00272 | ||||||||
| InterPro | IPR000875 | ||||||||
| PROSITE | PDOC00241 | ||||||||
| SCOP2 | 1f0d / SCOPe / SUPFAM | ||||||||
| TCDB | 1.C.17 | ||||||||
| OPM superfamily | 151 | ||||||||
| OPM protein | 1d9j | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Cecropins are antimicrobial peptides.[1][2] They were first isolated from the hemolymph of Hyalophora cecropia, whence the term cecropin was derived. Cecropins lyse bacterial cell membranes; they also inhibit proline uptake and cause leaky membranes.
Cecropins[3][4][5] constitute a main part of the innate immune system of insects. Cecropins are small proteins anywhere from 31 - 37 amino acids long and are active against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Cecropins isolated from insects other than Hyalophora cecropia (Cecropia moth) have been given various names, such as bactericidin, lepidopterin, and sarcotoxin. All of these peptides are structurally related.
- ^ Cecropins at the U.S. National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
- ^ Lauwers A, Twyffels L, Soin R, Wauquier C, Kruys V, Gueydan C (March 2009). "Post-transcriptional Regulation of Genes Encoding Anti-microbial Peptides in Drosophila". The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 284 (13): 8973–83. doi:10.1074/jbc.M806778200. PMC 2659254. PMID 19176529.
- ^ Boman HG, Hultmark D (1987). "Cell-free immunity in insects". Annual Review of Microbiology. 41: 103–26. doi:10.1146/annurev.mi.41.100187.000535. PMID 3318666.
- ^ Boman HG (April 1991). "Antibacterial peptides: key components needed in immunity". Cell. 65 (2): 205–7. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(91)90154-Q. PMID 2015623. S2CID 42206617.
- ^ Boman HG, Faye I, Gudmundsson GH, Lee JY, Lidholm DA (October 1991). "Cell-free immunity in Cecropia. A model system for antibacterial proteins". European Journal of Biochemistry. 201 (1): 23–31. doi:10.1111/j.1432-1033.1991.tb16252.x. PMID 1915368.