Influence of α-defensins on BREC permeability. BRECs were incubated for 1 hour or for 24 hours in the absence (100% control) or presence of VEGF (filled bars; 10 ng/mL), VEGF +α-defensins (10 μM; open bars), VEGF + synthetic HNP-1 (10 μM; gray bars), or VEGF + β-defensin (10 μM; dotted bars). FITC-conjugated dextran (1 mg/mL) was then added to the upper chambers, and fluorescence in the lower chamber was measured with a fluorescence reader. Permeability is expressed as percentage of control, defined as permeability in the absence of any stimulus or competitor. Data are mean ± SD (n = 3) of 1 experiment typical of 3 separate experiments so performed.