Abstract:
A protective secretion produced by epidermal mucus cells in stingrays is being investigated to understand its role in wound
healing and to identify mucus-associated antimicrobial compounds with the potential for development into novel therapeutics
to treat wound infection pathogens. Mucus from cownose rays (Rhinoptera bonasus), Atlantic stingrays (Dasyatis sabina),
devil rays (Mobula hypostoma) and clearnose skates (Raja eglanteria) contains proteins in the aqueous supernatant and
viscous pellet, as well as symbiotic bacteria. While fresh mucus extracted with a magnesium salt of trifluoroacetic acid
possesses low but measurable antimicrobial activity, symbiotic bacteria isolated from the mucus consistently demonstrate
antibiotic activity in both primary and secondary screens against pathogenic bacterial strains. Many of these strains are active against either MRSA or VRE. Experimental wounding studies result in wounds that heal without infection or inflammation. While a healing timeline based on gross physical appearance of wounds suggests gradual healing over several weeks, histology of biopsied wounds from day 28 and earlier reveals that day 2 wound beds are already covered with a thin
epidermis containing mucus cells and a clearly identifiable basal layer over a developing but unstructured dermis.
Description:
pdf 41p., b/w and color, table of contents, introduction, figures, tables, conclusions accomplishments and appendices.
