Dermatan sulphate is released by proteinases of common pathogenic bacteria and inactivates antibacterial alpha-defensin
Defensins represent an evolutionarily conserved group of small peptides with potent antibacterial activities. We report here that extracellular proteinases secreted by the human pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis and Streptococcus pyogenes release dermatan sulphate by degrading dermatan sulphate-containing proteoglycans, such as decorin. Dermatan sulphate was found to bind to