Long before modern labs existed, living things were already making their own molecular defenders. Antimicrobial peptides are short chains of amino acids found across nature, from frogs and insects to plants and people.
LL-37 is the only member of the cathelicidin family identified in humans. It is cut from a larger precursor protein called hCAP18, and its name tells its story: 37 amino acids long, beginning with two leucines (L-L).
Researchers study LL-37 in controlled laboratory models to better understand how innate defense molecules interact with cell membranes.
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Tucked behind the breastbone sits the thymus, a small organ with a big job: it is where T cells mature. For decades scientists wondered what molecules the thymus produced.
In the 1970s, Dr. Allan Goldstein’s research group isolated Thymosin Alpha-1 from a thymus extract known as “thymosin fraction 5.” It is a 28-amino-acid peptide.
Today, Thymosin Alpha-1 remains a subject of laboratory research into immune signaling and cellular responses.
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