Antimicrobial peptides and suppression of apoptosis in human skin

Abstract

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) provide broad spectrum antimicrobial defense in both healthy and injured skin. At high concentrations AMPs can damage normal human cells, resulting in necrosis or apoptotic death. In this issue Chammoro et al. (2009) describe a novel mechanism involving prostaglandin PGE2 that appears to explain how the keratinocyte, which secretes AMPs, can remain immune to self-inflicted AMP-induced apoptosis.