Defensins and other antimicrobial peptides: a historical perspective and an update.
Antimicrobial peptides are effectors of innate immunity in phagocytes, body fluids and epithelia. In mammals, defensins, peptides with a characteristic six-cysteine framework, are particularly abundant and widely distributed in various animal species and tissues. The first part of this review provides a historical overview of the ideas that led to the current state-of-the-art in antimicrobial peptides, and the second part is an update on mammalian defensins and their role in host defense to infections.
Ganz
Tomas
T
Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1690, USA. tganz@mednet.ucla.edu
D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000266:history / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D023082:Defensins / Q000266:history / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D023082:Defensins