defensin, b 4

β-Defensin-1 is a peptide with antimicrobial properties that protects the skin and mucosal membranes of the respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts.1It inhibits the growth ofB. adolescentis,L. acidophilus,B. breve,B. vulgatus,L. fermentum,B. longum, andS. thermophilusin an antimicrobial radial diffusion assay.2β-Defensin-1 also inhibits the growth of periodontopathogenic and cariogenic bacteria, includingP. gingivalisandS. salivarius, and of susceptibleM. tuberculosisH37Rv but not of resistantM. tuberculosisRM22 when used at a concentration of 128 μg/ml.3,4It blocks human and mouse Kv1.3 voltage-gated potassium channels (IC50s = 11.8 and 13.2 μM, respectively).5Overexpression of β-defensin-1 in the human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell lines HSC-3, UM-1, and SCC-9 increases migration and invasion but not proliferation.6 1.Lehrer, R.I.Primate defensinsNat. Rev. Microbiol.2(9)727-738(2004) 2.Schroeder, B.O., Ehmann, D., Precht, J.C., et al.Paneth cell α-defensin 6 (HD-6) is an antimicrobial peptideMucosal Immunol.8(3)661-671(2015) 3.Ouhara, K., Komatsuzawa, H., Yamada, S., et al.Susceptibilities of periodontopathogenic and cariogenic bacteria to antibacterial peptides, β-defensins and LL37, produced by human epithelial cellsJ. Antimicrob. Chemother.55(6)888-896(2005) 4.Fattorini, L., Gennaro, R., Zanetti, M., et al.In vitro activity of protegrin-1 and beta-defensin-1, alone and in combination with isoniazid, against Mycobacterium tuberculosisPeptides25(7)1075-1077(2004) 5.Feng, J., Xie, Z., Yang, W., et al.Human beta-defensin 1, a new animal toxin-like blocker of potassium channelToxicon113(2016) 6.Han, Q., Wang, R., Sun, C., et al.Human beta-defensin-1 suppresses tumor migration and invasion and is an independent predictor for survival of oral squamous cell carcinoma patientsPLoS One9(3)e91867(2014)

β-Defensin-4 is a peptide with antimicrobial properties that protects the skin and mucosal membranes of the respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts. It induces migration of monocytes in vitro when used at a concentration of 10 nM but does not affect migration of neutrophils and eosinophils. β-Defensin-4 (30 μg/ml) stimulates gene expression and production of IL-6, IL-10, CXCL10, CCL2, MIP-3α, and RANTES by keratinocytes. It also stimulates calcium mobilization, migration, and proliferation of keratinocytes when used at concentrations of 30, 10, and 40 μg/ml, respectively. β-Defensin-4 induces IL-31 production by human peripheral blood-derived mast cells in vitro when used at a concentration of 10 μg/ml and by rat mast cells in vivo following a 500 ng intradermal dose. It also inhibits growth of E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and S. aureus with lethal concentration (LC) values of 5, 12, and 15 μM, respectively, of S. carnosus (MIC = 4.5 μg/ml), and of C. albicans with a minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) value of 7.5 μM.