title: A review of defensins of diverse origins.
abstract: Defensins are a family of peptides with potent antimicrobial activity. They are found in various organisms. The intent of this article is to review the structures and mechanisms of antimicrobial actions of defensins produced by different organisms including humans, other mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, mollusks, arthropods, plants and fungi. The evolution and possible applications of these defensins are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Jack H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: T B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ng
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D023082:Defensins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000502:physiology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D023082:Defensins