Patent ID: 8106006

Claim:
A method for altering an antimicrobial activity of an isolated alpha defensin polypeptide, comprising: ribosylating or ADP-ribosylating at least one arginine residue of the isolated alpha defensin polypeptide that alters the antimicrobial activity of the polypeptide, wherein the alpha defensin polypeptide is human neutrophil peptide (HNP)-1, HNP-2, or HNP-3, and wherein HNP-1 comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth as SEQ ID NO: 2, HNP-2 comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth as SEQ ID NO: 3, or HNP-3 comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to the amino acid sequence set forth as SEQ ID NO: 4, thereby altering the antimicrobial activity of the isolated alpha defensin polypeptide.