With these conditions and stresses due to CFTR default that facilitates the colonization of the lung by microbial pathogens and the subsequent potential establishment of chronic infections leading to tissue damage, the airways provide a myriad of mechanisms of defense, notably lung antimicrobial peptides present at the surface of the epithelial cells which are markedly increased to prevent or in response to microbial colonization and infections. Here, CFTR is linked to infection.