Defensin Beta 104 (DEFb104)

Defensins form a family of microbicidal and cytotoxic peptides made by neutrophils. Members of the defensin family are highly similar in protein sequence.

This gene encodes defensin, beta 4, an antibiotic peptide which is locally regulated by inflammation.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 104, DEFB104A and DEFB104B, in head-to-head orientation. This gene, DEFB104A, represents the more centromeric copy.