title: [Defensins - natural peptide antibiotics of higher eukaryotes].
abstract: The goal of this review is to characterize defensins representing an evolutionary the most ancient family of antimicrobial peptides. It gives general information on functional and structural features of defensins as the main components of the first-line defense of higher eukaryote organisms against infectious agents. The review considers not only current situation in the defensin research but also perspectives of creation of recombinant antimicrobial peptides of biomedical application.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Grishin
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Sokolov
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D023082:Defensins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D023082:Defensins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
keywords: antimicrobial peptides; defensins; mechanism of bactericidal action of defensins; recombinant antimicrobial peptides