Figure 6. HBD-3 restricts the growth of Trichophyton rubrum.

45 µl of germinating conidia of T. rubrum were incubated in a 96-well plate for 3 h at 34°C in 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) together with 5 µl of hBD-3 (solved in 0.01% acetic acid) to reach an end concentration of 50 µg/ml hBD-3 (a), 25 µg/ml hBD-3 (b), 12.5 µg/ml hBD-3 (c) and 6.25 µg/ml hBD-3 (d). Incubation without hBD-3 (only 5 µl 0.01% acetic acid) served as a growth control and treatment with the antifungal drug fluconazole (100 µg/ml end concentration) served as a positive control. After 3 h incubation 150 µl Sabouraud's glucose broth containing 100 units/ml penicillin and 100 µg/ml streptomycin was added to each well and growth was monitored over time by measuring the optical density at 620 nm. Data are means ± SD of one representative experiment of two, each performed in triplicate samples (*p<0.05, **p<0.01 compared to growth control, Student's t test).