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About the Authors:
Peter G. Barlow
Current address: School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Affiliation: Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Pavel Svoboda
Affiliation: Biotechnology Core Facility Branch, Division of Scientific Resources, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Annie Mackellar
Affiliation: MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, Queens Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Anthony A. Nash
Affiliation: The Roslin Institute and Centre for Infectious Diseases, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Ian A. York
Affiliation: Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Jan Pohl
Affiliation: Biotechnology Core Facility Branch, Division of Scientific Resources, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Donald J. Davidson
Contributed equally to this work with: Donald J. Davidson, Ruben O. Donis
Affiliation: MRC Centre for Inflammation Research, Queens Medical Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Ruben O. Donis
Contributed equally to this work with: Donald J. Davidson, Ruben O. Donis
* E-mail: [email protected]
Affiliation: Influenza Division, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Introduction
Infection with influenza viruses is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Vaccination can help protect against prevalent subtypes of influenza, but new subtypes represent a global pandemic threat, and emerging resistance to neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors (the current first-line therapy) is of serious concern. Thus, in addition to effective vaccination strategies, the development of novel, alternative therapeutics is of great importance.
Innate immune mechanisms are critical to the host response to respiratory infection with influenza virus [1]. As well as cytokines and chemokines, both cellular responses (such as neutrophils, macrophages, and NK cells) and other soluble factors found within airway surface liquid (such as defensins and collectins) have been shown to assist in the containment and clearance of an initial influenza infection [2], [3]. The effectiveness of these innate responses to virus at the primary site of infection is likely to be critical to the pathological outcomes of the disease, and targeting these responses may lead to novel therapeutic agents.
Important components of early innate immunity are cationic host-defense peptides (CHDP; also...