β-Defensin-1 is a peptide with antimicrobial properties that protects the skin and mucosal membranes of the respiratory, genitourinary, and gastrointestinal tracts.1 It inhibits the growth of B. adolescentis, L. acidophilus, B. breve, B. vulgatus, L. fermentum, B. longum, and S. thermophilus in an antimicrobial radial diffusion assay.2 β-Defensin-1 also inhibits the growth of periodontopathogenic and cariogenic bacteria, including P. gingivalis and S. salivarius, and of susceptible M. tuberculosis H37Rv but not of resistant M. tuberculosis RM22 when used at a concentration of 128 µg/ml.3,4 It blocks human and mouse Kv1.3 voltage-gated potassium channels (IC50s = 11.8 and 13.2 μM, respectively).5 Overexpression 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)