basic FUNCTION
| acting as an intestinal antibacterial peptide |
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may be involved in mounting antimicrobial defenses in the small bowel |
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the strongest cationic properties and unique distribution of charged residues on the molecular surface of DEFA5 may be associated with its highest bactericidal activity among human alpha-defensins |
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homeostatic role to alpha-defensins in regulating the makeup of the commensal microbiota |
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may act as a regulator of the intestinal inflammatory response |
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one of the major antimicrobial peptides secreted by Paneth cells in the human small intestine |
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produced and stored as a propeptide in Paneth cell granules, secreted in response to stimulation by cholinergic reagents or bacterial antigens |
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DEFA6 forms higher-order assemblages with slower kinetics of association and dissociation, whereas DEFA5 and other alpha-defensins rapidly (and reversibly) form dimeric complexes |