DEFB106A explained

Beta-defensin 106 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the DEFB106A gene.^{[1] [2]}

Defensins form a family of microbicidal and cytotoxic peptides made by neutrophils. Defensins are short, processed peptide molecules that are classified by structure into three groups: alpha-defensins, beta-defensins and theta-defensins. All beta-defensin genes are densely clustered in four to five syntenic chromosomal regions. Chromosome 8p23 contains at least two copies of the duplicated beta-defensin cluster. This duplication results in two identical copies of defensin, beta 106, DEFB106A and DEFB106B, in head-to-head orientation. This gene, DEFB106A, represents the more centromeric copy.

Function

The purified DEFB106 showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus.^[3]

Further reading

• Yamaguchi Y, Nagase T, Makita R . Identification of multiple novel epididymis-specific beta-defensin isoforms in humans and mice. . J. Immunol. . 169 . 5 . 2516–23 . 2002 . 12193721 . 10.4049/jimmunol.169.5.2516. etal. free .
• Strausberg RL, Feingold EA, Grouse LH . Generation and initial analysis of more than 15,000 full-length human and mouse cDNA sequences. . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. . 99 . 26 . 16899–903 . 2003 . 12477932 . 10.1073/pnas.242603899 . 139241 . 2002PNAS...9916899M . etal. free .
• Kao CY, Chen Y, Zhao YH, Wu R . ORFeome-based search of airway epithelial cell-specific novel human [beta]-defensin genes. . Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. . 29 . 1 . 71–80 . 2003 . 12600824 . 10.1165/rcmb.2002-0205OC . 10.1.1.108.7808 .
• Semple CA, Rolfe M, Dorin JR . Duplication and selection in the evolution of primate beta-defensin genes. . Genome Biol. . 4 . 5 . R31 . 2003 . 12734011 . 10.1186/gb-2003-4-5-r31 . 156587 . free .
• Hollox EJ, Armour JA, Barber JC . Extensive normal copy number variation of a beta-defensin antimicrobial-gene cluster. . Am. J. Hum. Genet. . 73 . 3 . 591–600 . 2003 . 12916016 . 10.1086/378157 . 1180683 .
• Gerhard DS, Wagner L, Feingold EA . The status, quality, and expansion of the NIH full-length cDNA project: the Mammalian Gene Collection (MGC). . Genome Res. . 14 . 10B . 2121–7 . 2004 . 15489334 . 10.1101/gr.2596504 . 528928 . etal.
• Taudien S, Galgoczy P, Huse K . Polymorphic segmental duplications at 8p23.1 challenge the determination of individual defensin gene repertoires and the assembly of a contiguous human reference sequence. . BMC Genomics . 5 . 92 . 2006 . 15588320 . 10.1186/1471-2164-5-92 . 544879 . 1. etal . free .
• Boniotto M, Ventura M, Eskdale J . Evidence for duplication of the human defensin gene DEFB4 in chromosomal region 8p22-23 and implications for the analysis of SNP allele distribution. . Genet. Test. . 8 . 3 . 325–7 . 2005 . 15727258 . 10.1089/gte.2004.8.325 . etal.
• Patil AA, Cai Y, Sang Y . Cross-species analysis of the mammalian beta-defensin gene family: presence of syntenic gene clusters and preferential expression in the male reproductive tract. . Physiol. Genomics . 23 . 1 . 5–17 . 2006 . 16033865 . 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00104.2005 . 22355626 . etal.

Notes and References

1. Schutte BC, Mitros JP, Bartlett JA, Walters JD, Jia HP, Welsh MJ, Casavant TL, ((McCray PB Jr)) . Discovery of five conserved beta -defensin gene clusters using a computational search strategy . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A . 99 . 4 . 2129–33 . Feb 2002 . 11854508 . 122330 . 10.1073/pnas.042692699 . 2002PNAS...99.2129S . free .
2. Web site: Entrez Gene: DEFB106A defensin, beta 106A.
3. Xin A . Soluble fusion expression, characterization and localization of human β-defensin 6... . Mol Med Rep . 9 . 1. Jan 2014 . 24189797 . 149–55 . 10.3892/mmr.2013.1768. free .