Figure 1. Structure of α-, β- and θ-defensins.
(A) Human α-defensin 1. (B) Human β-defensin 2. (C) RC-1. Images were generated by PyMOL (http://www.pymol.org/) using PDB structures: 3GNY (A), 1FD3 (B), and 1HVZ (C). Characteristic cysteines connected via disulfide bonds are coloured in green. Note that even though structures of monomeric defensins are shown, in solution defensins have a tendency to form dimers or higher-order oligomers.