Assays for Identifying Inducers of the Antimicrobial Peptide LL-37

One promising approach to meet the growing problem of antibiotic resistance is to modulate host defense mechanisms, i.e., host-directed therapy (HDT), in the fight against infections. Induction of endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) via small molecular compounds, such as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D₃ or phenylbutyrate, could provide one such HDT-based approach.We have developed a cell-based screening assay for the identification of novel compounds with the capacity to induce AMP expression and here follows the detailed protocol.