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Defensins (DEF) are a family of proteins which are involved in host defense in the epithelia of mucosal surfaces such as those of the intestin, respiratory tract, urinary tract, and vagina. They are antimicrobial and cytotoxic. All the proteins of the family are distinguished by a cystein motif and are encoded on the chromozome 8.<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/1667</ref><br /> There are many defensin but in this article we will focus on the '''defensin-α-1'''. It is a polypeptide which is found in the microbicidal granules of neutrophils. It is synthesized in the neutrophils, which plays a role in the defense process. defensin-α-1 plays a particular role in phagocite-mediated host defense.<ref>''Abraham L. Kierszenbaum. Histologie et biologie cellulaire: Une introduction à l'anatomie pathologique''  2002</ref>  

We focused on human alpha defensin 1. Defensins are extremely conserved so they are present by a great number of organisms.The number of different alpha defensins is 6. The first and the third differ only from one aminoacide. In addition of alpha defensins, there also exist Beta defensins which also play a role in defense.Researches are still performed in the fields of medecin and antibiotics