Has very strong antibacterial activity against many Gram-negative bacteria and the Gram-positive bacteria S.pneumoniae and Enterococcus sp. There is moderate antimicrobial activity against the Gram-negative bacterium P.aeruginosa and yeast C.albicans and weaker activity against the Streptococcal strains and E.coli. Has hemolytic activity against human red blood cells. Seems to disrupt the membranes by adopting an alpha-helical conformation. Expressed by the skin glands. Amidation on Leu-18 is required to adopt an alpha-helical conformation in a hydrophobic solvent. The absence of amidation leads to a decrease in cationicity leading to a more than a 10-fold decrease in antimicrobial activities.