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Volume 13, Issue 2 (March 2011) 13, 305–311; 10.1038/aja.2010.93
Rat recombinant β-defensin 22 is a heparin-binding protein with antimicrobial activity
Hua Diao1,*, He-Guo Yu1,*, Fei Sun2, Yong-Lian Zhang1,3 and Nongnuj Tanphaichitr4
1 NPFPC Key Laboratory of Contraceptives and Devices, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research, Shanghai 200032, China
2 Laboratory for Reproductive Biology, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
3 Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Andrology, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
4 Chronic Disease Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4E9, Canada
* These authors contributed equally to this work.
Correspondence: Dr H Diao, (diaohua77@hotmail.com); Prof. YL Zhang, (ylzhang@sibs.ac.cn)
Received 21 December 2009; Revised 2 April 2010; Accepted 14 July 2010; Published online 13 December 2010
| Abstract |
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Approximately 40–50 β-defensins are predominantly expressed in the male reproductive system of mammals. This selective expression raises the question as to the roles of these molecules in innate immunity and fertility in the male reproductive tract. Rat β-defensin 22 is an epididymis-specific β-defensin expressed in segments 12–14 of the epididymis. This protein contains both β-defensin and lectin signature sequences, yet its antimicrobial activity and carbohydrate-binding ability have not been shown. We herein demonstrated the antimicrobial activity of recombinant rat β-defensin 22 against Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. Its lectin-like activity was also investigated by demonstrating its binding ability with heparin beads. This heparin-binding activity implies some potential roles for this defensin in determining the fertilisation capabilities of sperm.
Keywords: epididymis; rat; recombinant protein; sperm
Keywords: epididymis; rat; recombinant protein; sperm
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