The spectrum of antimicrobial peptide expression at the ocular surface.

Purpose: Antimicrobial peptides are the eukaryotic analogues of antibiotics. In addition to their antimicrobial activity, these peptides can signal to host cells and are therefore intermediaries between the innate and adaptive immune systems. Results in a prior study showed that beta-defensins-1 and -2 are made by ocular surface epithelial cells.