title: Revealing the Achilles heel of bacterial toxins.
abstract: In addition to having antimicrobial properties, defensins inactivate various structurally unrelated bacterial toxins by a yet unknown manner. In this issue of Immunity, Kudryashova et al. (2014b) provide insights into mechanisms by which human ?-defensins destabilize and inactivate bacterial toxins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: jschroeder@dermatology.uni-kiel.de.
authors.forename: Jens-Michael
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schröder
mesh_terms: D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D023084:alpha-Defensins / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023083:beta-Defensins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C500225:DEFA5 protein, human; C106641:DEFB4A protein, human; D005098:Exotoxins; D023084:alpha-Defensins; D023083:beta-Defensins; C406413:human neutrophil peptide 1