Dermcidin is a secreted protein that is subsequently processed into mature peptides of distinct biological activities. The C-terminal peptide is constitutively expressed in sweat and has antibacterial and antifungal activities. The N-terminal peptide, also known as diffusible survival evasion peptide, promotes neural cell survival under conditions of severe oxidative stress. A glycosylated form of the N-terminal peptide may be associated with cachexia (muscle wasting) in cancer patients.

High performance liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and microsequence analysis of sweat showed a processed 47-amino acid DCD peptide with a calculated mass of 4.7 kD, compared with the expected 9.3 kD of full-length DCD without the signal peptide.DCD expression in skin, melanocytic nevus, and cutaneous melanoma tissue, but not in any other organ systems tested.