Defensins: antimicrobial peptides of innate immunity.
The production of natural antibiotic peptides has emerged as an important mechanism of innate immunity in plants and animals. Defensins are diverse members of a large family of antimicrobial peptides, contributing to the antimicrobial action of granulocytes, mucosal host defence in the small intestine and epithelial host defence in the skin and elsewhere. This review, inspired by a spate of recent studies of defensins in human diseases and animal models, focuses on the biological function of defensins.
Ganz
Tomas
T
Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1690, USA. tganz@mednet.ucla.edu
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023082:Defensins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012475:Salmonella / Q000276:immunology; D012480:Salmonella Infections / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment
D023082:Defensins