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Four Reasons to Consider a Novel Class of Innate Immune Molecules in the Oral Epithelium

Department of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, 2325 N. Clifton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, USA; eleclair{at}depaul.edu

An expanding number of innate immune molecules occupy the "epithelial frontier". This review introduces a recently recognized class of mammalian proteins with similarity to PLUNC (palate, lung and nasal epithelium clone), which is itself related to the host defense protein BPI (bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein). Four emerging lines of evidence unite the PLUNC-like proteins: conserved genetic structure, epithelial expression, three-dimensional protein similarity, and a physiological response to injury or inflammation. By analogy to known proteins of the innate immune system, an emerging hypothesis for this family is that they act as sensors of Gram-negative bacteria in the oral cavity, among other areas.

KEY WORDS: bactericidal • permeability-increasing protein (BPI) • endotoxin • host defense • innate immunity • lipid binding protein (LBP) • lipopolysaccharide (LPS) • palate • lung • nasal epithelium clone (PLUNC) • parotid secretory protein (PSP) • sepsis • von Ebner minor salivary gland protein (VEMSGP)

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