Antimicrobial Potentials and Structural Disorder of Human and Animal Defensins
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2016
Keywords
Defensins, Antimicrobial peptides, Anti-tumor activity, Protein structure, protein function, Intrinsic disorder
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cytogfr.2015.11.002
Abstract
Defensins are moonlighting peptides which are broadly distributed throughout all the living kingdoms. They play a multitude of important roles in human health and disease, possessing several immunoregulatory functions and manifesting broad antimicrobial activities against viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Based on their patterns of intramolecular disulfide bridges, these small cysteine-rich cationic proteins are divided into three major types, α-, β-, and θ-defensins, with the α- and β-defensins being further subdivided into a number of subtypes. The various roles played by the defensins in the innate (especially mucosal) and adoptive immunities place these polypeptides at the frontiers of the defense against the microbial invasions. Current work analyzes the antimicrobial activities of human and animal defensins in light of their intrinsic disorder propensities.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews, v. 28, p. 95-111
Scholar Commons Citation
Mattar, Ehab H.; Almehdar, Hussein A.; Yacoub, Haitham A.; Uversky, Vladimir N.; and Redwan, Elrashdy M., "Antimicrobial Potentials and Structural Disorder of Human and Animal Defensins" (2016). Molecular Medicine Faculty Publications. 346.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mme_facpub/346
