Adapting Fish Defenses to Block Human Infections: Antimicrobial Peptide of Fish Gills Inspire Clean Surfaces
Date: 5.12.2012
An undergraduate research team analyzes peptides from fish gills to engineer antimicrobial surfaces for food preparation and medical devices.
Living in an environment teaming with bacteria and fungi, fish have evolved powerful defenses against waterborne pathogens, including antimicrobial peptides located in their gills.
The research team, led by Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering, reports its latest findings in the paper "Creating Antibacterial Surfaces with the Peptide Chrysophsin-1," published online in October by the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
As fish filter water through their gills to extract oxygen, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), including Chrysosphin-1, trap and kill pathogens before they can invade the fish's bloodstream. Scientists in many laboratories around the world are actively exploring the potential use of these molecules to prevent human infections.
