Waking the wimp: Redox-modulation activates human beta-defensin 1

Antimicrobial peptides are key players of the innate immune system and form a primary barrier against infection by microorganisms. In humans, several classes of antimicrobial peptides are produced, including the defensins. These small, cationic peptides show broad spectrum antimicrobial activity against bacteria, some fungi and some viruses. Defensins are characterized by six conserved cysteine residues which are connected via three disulphide bridges. Depending on the pattern of connectivity, human defensins are either classified as α- or β-defensins. Human β-defensin 1 (hBD-1) is constitutively expressed by epithelia, but in comparison with other antimicrobial peptides the antimicrobial activity of hBD-1 was comparably low. We recently found that after reduction of hBD-1's three disulphide bonds its antimicrobial activity is strongly enhanced. Reduction can be either performed by a reducing environment, as it is present in parts of the human intestine, the oral cavity and other locations, or enzymatically by the thioredoxin-system, which is one of the major redox regulators. Reduced hBD-1 is able to kill Gram-positive anaerobic bacteria of the human normal flora as well as an opportunistic pathogenic fungus, whereas the oxidized peptide does not show activity against these microorganisms. Herein we provide additional data about reduced hBD-1 and discuss the biological context of our findings.