Current Protein and Peptide Science - Volume 16, Issue 7, 2015

Alpha-Ketoglutarate (AKG) is a biological substance that plays important roles in cell metabolism and physiology. AKG is synthesized from glucose or oxaloacetate plus pyruvate. As an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, AKG is essential for the oxidation of fatty acids, amino acids, and glucose. Extracellular AKG is a significant source of energy for cells of the gastrointestinal tract. As a precursor for the synthesis of gluta Read More

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), produced by several species including bacteria, insects, amphibians and mammals as well as by chemical synthesis and genetically engineered microorganisms, are of great importance in maintaining normal gut homeostasis. AMPs exhibit a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and inhibit microbial cells by interaction with their membranes or by other mechanisms, such as inhibition of cell-w Read More

The mammalian gut, the site of digestion and nutrients absorption, harbors diverse microbes that play an essential role in maintaining physiological homeostasis of the gastrointestinal system. These commensal microbes are important for the normal development of the host immune system and alteration of the microbiota of gastrointestinal system has been found to play an important role in the development of obesity, metaboli Read More

The bioactive peptides are protein fragments which have a positive impact on the intestinal homeostasis. Intestinal homeostasis depends on the diverse functions of intestinal barrier including the microbiological, physical, chemical and immunological barriers. Defects in intestinal barrier function are associated with intestinal diseases. In this review, we will present current knowledge of the crosstalk between bioactive pep Read More

Soybean is widely utilized in the food and feed industries. However, soybean contains many anti-nutritional factors that limit its extended application. The two most important antigenic proteins are glycinin and β-conglycinin. When young animals are fed diets containing soybean protein, a small portion of undigested proteins enters the lymph and blood through gaps between the intestinal epithelial cells. These m Read More

The mucosal surfaces of the intestinal tract are constantly exposed to complex microbial communities that contain commensal microorganisms and potential pathogens. Therefore, hosts harbor multiple molecular mechanisms to modulate the gut innate immunity to achieve gut-microbe homeostasis. Pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), such as Toll-like receptor (TLR) and nucleotide oligomerization domain (NOD)-like rec Read More

The mammalian intestine harbors a mass of microorganisms that is essential to maintain intestinal epithelium homeostasis and health. However, some microbes can damage the epithelial mucosal barrier to utilize nutrients for their survival and growth. Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular process that targets cytoplasmic damaged organelles and some cellular molecules to lysosome for degradation. Accumulating studies h Read More

Dietary protein is a vital nutrient for humans and animals, which is primarily digested into peptides and free amino acids (FAAs) in the upper gastrointestine with the help of proteases. The products are absorbed by the enterocytes and are metabolized in different organs of body. Dietary protein, peptides and FAAs that escape digestion and absorption of the small intestine will enter the large intestine for further fermentati Read More

Homeostasis of the immune system depends on several factors. The gastrointestinal tract plays an important role in maintaining our immune system. With this aim, the intestinal immune system interacts with epithelial barrier molecules, especially tight junction proteins, that are key molecules involved in controlling paracellular permeability to increase the protection barrier against external antigens or possibly to res Read More

Host defense peptides (HDPs) are of either myeloid or epithelial origin with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory functions. Due to HDP’s ability to physically disrupt bacterial cell membranes and profoundly regulate host innate and adaptive immunity, microbial resistance to these peptides is rare. As an important first line of defense, HDPs are mostly present in epithelial cells of the digestive, respiratory or urogenital tracts as Read More