Medical Definition of Insect defensins
1.
Family of small (30-35 residue) cysteine rich cationic proteins found in vertebrate phagocytes (notably the azurophil granules of neutrophils) and active against bacteria, fungi and enveloped viruses.
May constitute up to 5% of the total protein. Insect defensins have some sequence homology with the vertebrate forms.
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Insect Defensins
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