Defensins are a family of microbicidal and cytotoxic peptides
thought to be involved in host defense. They are abundant in the
granules of neutrophils and also found in the epithelia of mucosal
surfaces such as those of the intestine, respiratory tract, urinary
tract, and vagina. Members of the defensin family are highly
similar in protein sequence and distinguished by a conserved
cysteine motif.
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