Defensins

In solution most alpha and beta defensins are monomers but can form dimers and higher order structures.

The primary cellular sources of defensins are neutrophils, epithelial cells and intestinal Paneth cells.Those expressed in neutrophils and the gut are predominantly constitutive, while those in epithelial tissues such as skin are often inducible by proinflammatory stimuli such as LPS or TNF-alpha.

Defensins are translated as precursor polypeptides that include a typical signal peptide or prepiece that is cleaved in the Golgi body, and a propiece, cleaved by differing mechanisms to produce the mature defensin. Mature defensin peptides can be further processed by removal of individual N-terminal residues. This may be a mechanism to broaden the activity profile of defensins.

Defensins have direct antimicrobial effects and kill a wide range of Gram-positive and negative bacteria, fungi and some viruses. The primary antimicrobial action of defensins is permeabilization of microbial target membranes but several additional mechanisms have been suggested. Defensins and related antimicrobial peptides such as cathelicidin bridge the innate and acquired immune responses. In addition to their antimicrobial properties, cathelicidin and several defensins show receptor-mediated chemotactic activity for immune cells such as monocytes, T cells or immature DCs, induce cytokine production by monocytes and epithelial cells, modulate angiogenesis and stimulate wound healing (Yang et al. 1999, 2000, 2004, Rehaume & Hancock 2008, Yeung et al. 2011).