Three subfamilies of defensins—α-, β-, and θ-defensins—are distinguished on the basis of amino acid sequence, and each family has members with distinct activities, some being active against Gram-positive bacteria and some against Gram-negative bacteria, while others are specific for fungal pathogens. All the antimicrobial peptides, including the defensins, are generated by proteolytic processing from inactive propeptides (Fig. 2.11). In humans, developing neutrophils produce α-defensins by the processing of an initial propeptide of about 90 amino acids by cellular proteases to remove an anionic propiece, generating a mature cationic defensin that is stored in so-called primary granules. The primary granules of neutrophils are specialized membrane-enclosed vesicles, rather similar to lysosomes, that contain a number of other antimicrobial agents as well as defensins. We will explain in Chapter 3 how these primary granules within neutrophils are induced to fuse with phagocytic vesicles (phagosomes) after the cell has engulfed a pathogen, helping to kill the microbe. The Paneth cells of the gut constitutively produce α-defensins, called cryptdins, which are processed by proteases such as the metalloprotease matrilysin in mice, or trypsin in humans, before being secreted into the gut lumen. The β-defensins lack the long propiece of α-defensins and are generally produced specifically in response to the presence of microbial products. β-Defensins (and some α-defensins) are made by epithelia outside the gut, primarily in the respiratory and urogenital tracts, skin, and tongue. β-Defensins made by keratinocytes in the epidermis and by type II pneumocytes in the lungs are packaged into lamellar bodies (see Fig. 2.6), lipid-rich secretory organelles that release their contents into the extracellular space to form a watertight lipid sheet in the epidermis and the pulmonary surfactant layer in the lung. The θ-defensins arose in the primates, but the single human θ-defensin gene has been inactivated by a mutation.
The antimicrobial peptides belonging to the cathelicidin family lack the disulfide bonds that stabilize the defensins. Humans and mice have one cathelicidin gene, but some other mammals, including cattle and sheep, have several. Cathelicidins are made constitutively by neutrophils and macrophages, and are made in response to infection by keratinocytes in the skin and epithelial cells in the lungs and intestine. They are made as inactive pro-peptides composed of two linked domains and are processed before secretion (see Fig. 2.11). In neutrophils, the inactive cathelicidin propeptides are stored in another type of specialized cytoplasmic granule called secondary granules. Cathelicidin is activated by proteolytic cleavage only when primary and secondary granules are induced to fuse with phagosomes, where it is cleaved by neutrophil elastase that has been stored in primary granules. Cleavage separates the two domains, and the cleavage products either remain in the phagosome or are released from the neutrophil by exocytosis. The carboxyterminal peptide is a cationic amphipathic peptide that disrupts membranes and is toxic to a wide range of microorganisms. The amino-terminal peptide is similar in structure to a protein called cathelin, an inhibitor of cathepsin L (a lysosomal enzyme involved in antigen processing and protein degradation), but its role in immune defense is unclear. In keratinocytes, cathelicidins, like β-defensins, are stored and processed in the lamellar bodies.