Table I.
The expression of defensins in the human reproductive tracts.
| Gene symbols | Female reproductive tract | Male reproductive tract | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | |
| DEFA1–3 (HNP1–3) | Vaginal fluid | Protein | (Svinarich et al., 1997; Hein et al., 2002; Akinbi et al., 2004; Das et al., 2007, 2008; Lucovnik et al., 2011) | Testis | mRNA | (Com et al., 2003) |
| Cervical mucus | Protein | |||||
| Endometrium | Protein | |||||
| Follicular fluid | Protein | |||||
| Amniotic fluid | Protein | Spermatozoa | mRNA | |||
| Amnion | mRNA | |||||
| Chorion | mRNA | |||||
| Decidua | mRNA | |||||
| DEFA4 (HNP4) | Not reported | Not reported | ||||
| DEFA5 (HD5) | Vagina | Protein and mRNA | (Quayle et al., 1998) | Testis | mRNA | (Com et al., 2003) |
| Cervix | Protein and mRNA | |||||
| Endometrium | Protein and mRNA | |||||
| Fallopian tube | Protein and mRNA | Spermatozoa | mRNA | |||
| Cervicovaginal lavages | Protein | |||||
| DEFA6 (HD6) | Vagina | mRNA | (Fichorova et al., 1997; Klotman et al., 2008) | Testis | mRNA | (Com et al., 2003) |
| Ectocervix | mRNA | |||||
| Endocervix | mRNA | |||||
| Gene symbols | Female reproductive tract | Male reproductive tract | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | |
| DEFB1 (HBD1) | Amnion epithelium | Protein | (Zhao et al., 1996; Hein et al., 2002; King et al., 2002, 2007a,b; Erhart et al., 2011; Noda-Nicolau et al., 2017) | Semen | Protein | (Zhao et al., 1996; Com et al., 2003; Zupin et al., 2019a) |
| Chorion trophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Decidua | Protein | Testis | Protein and mRNA | |||
| Placental syncytiotrophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Vagina | Protein and mRNA | Spermatozoa | Protein and mRNA | |||
| Cervicovaginal fluid | Protein | |||||
| DEFB1 (HBD1) | Amniotic fluid | Protein | (King et al., 2002; Varrey et al., 2018) | Prostate glands | Protein and mRNA | (Hong et al., 2017) |
| Endometrium | mRNA | |||||
| Placenta | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB2 (HBD2) | Amnion epithelium | Protein | (King et al., 2002; Soto et al., 2007; King et al., 2007a,b; Erhart et al., 2011; Noda-Nicolau et al., 2017) | Not reported | ||
| Chorion trophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Decidua | Protein | |||||
| Placental syncytiotrophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Amniotic fluid | Protein | |||||
| Vagina | Protein and mRNA | |||||
| Cervicovaginal fluid | Protein | |||||
| Endometrium | mRNA | |||||
| Genes (and proteins) | Female reproductive tract | Male reproductive tract | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | |
| DEFB3 (HBD3,DEFB103A) | Amnion epithelium and mesenchyme | Protein | (King et al., 2002, 2003a,b, 2007a,b; Erhart et al., 2011; Noda-Nicolau et al., 2017; Para et al., 2020) | Not reported | ||
| Amniotic fluid | Protein | |||||
| Chorion trophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Decidua | Protein | |||||
| Placental syncytiotrophoblast | Protein | |||||
| Vagina | Protein and mRNA | |||||
| Cervicovaginal fluid | Protein | |||||
| Endometrium | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB4 (HBD4,DEFB104A) | Chorioamniotic membranes | mRNA | (King et al., 2003a,b; Polettini et al., 2011) | Epididymis | mRNA | (Lehrer and Ganz, 2002; Yamaguchi et al., 2002) |
| Endometrium | mRNA | Testis | mRNA | |||
| DEFB5 (DEFB105A, DEFB105B) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Yamaguchi et al., 2002; Semple et al., 2003) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB106 (DEFB106A, DEFB-6) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Yamaguchi et al., 2002; Semple et al., 2003; Xin et al., 2014) | ||
| Epididymis | Protein and mRNA | |||||
| DEFB107 (DEFB107A) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Semple et al., 2003) | ||
| Gene symbols | Female reproductive tract | Male reproductive tract | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | |
| DEFB108 (DEFB108A/B/C) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Semple et al., 2003) | ||
| DEFB109 (DEFB109B/C) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Schutte et al., 2002; Patil et al., 2005) | ||
| Prostate | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB114 | Not reported | Epididymis | Protein and mRNA | (Yu et al., 2013) | ||
| DEFB118 | Not reported | Sperm | Protein | (Yenugu et al., 2004) | ||
| DEFB119 (DEFB120) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Radhakrishnan et al., 2005) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB121 | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Radhakrishnan et al., 2005) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB123 | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Radhakrishnan et al., 2005) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB124 | Not reported | Prostate epithelia | Protein and mRNA | (Kim et al., 2014) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB125–128 (DEFB25–28) | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Rodríguez-Jiménez et al., 2003) | ||
| Epididymis | mRNA | |||||
| DEFB129 | Not reported | Testis | mRNA | (Rodríguez-Jiménez et al., 2003; Dubé et al., 2008) | ||
| Not reported | Epididymis | Protein and mRNA | ||||
| DEFB131 | Not reported | Prostate epithelia | Protein and mRNA | (Kim et al., 2015) | ||
| DEFB132 | Not reported | Epididymis | Protein | (Lin et al., 2008) | ||
| Not reported | Sperm | Protein | ||||
| Gene symbols | β-defensin mRNAs detected in the transcriptome analysis but not reported in the published articles on reproductive tracts | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Expression site | Detected molecule | Reference | |
| DEFB110 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |
| DEFB111-112 | Gingival tissues and keratinocytes | mRNA | (Schutte et al., 2002; Premratanachai et al., 2004) |
| DEFB113 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |
| DEFB115-117 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |
| DEFB122 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |
| DEFB130 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |
| DEFB133 | Not reported | (Schutte et al., 2002) | |