Antimicrobial peptides are a common mechanism of host defense utilized by a variety of species, from insects to humans. Defensins are a large family of broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides, identified originally in leukocytes of rabbits and humans. Defensins, cationic/polar peptides (30-35 aa, 3-4kD), are...

A novel, nonhemolytic antimicrobial peptide (human beta-defensin-3, BD3) was isolated from human lesional psoriatic scales and cloned from keratinocytes. BD3 demonstrated a salt-insensitive broad spectrum of potent antimicrobial activity against many potentially pathogenic microbes including multiresistant S. aureus...