Defensins

Small basic unglycosylated proteins of 29-34 amino acids containing three intramolecular disulfide bonds, that cyclize and stabilize the proteins in a complexly folded triple-helical beta-sheet configuration. These cysteine disulfide bonds are essential for the biological activities of defensins.

Structure of some defensins.

Defensins are members of an evolutionarily old family of related peptides (Ganz et al, 1992, 2005; Lehrer, 2004; Crovella et al, 2005). Zhu (2008) has studied the evolutionary relationships of defensins as a class of effectors of innate immunity in three eukaryotic kingdoms. Defensins play a primary role in ... ... ... ...
 
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Entry last modified: February 2020