Komodo Dragon provides 48 antimicrobial peptides through their blood plasma, researchers have discovered. These substances could help in advancing the treatment platform for resistant bacteria such as MRSA or VRSA.
According to Science Daily, the saliva of Komodo Dragon contains 50 species of bacteria that enables them to prey on other animals. This ability of the lizard ironically reflects that they are resistant to some bacteria and their serum has been shown to have antibacterial activity.
Both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria thrive in Komodo Dragon yet, these creatures are not infected. They survive with numerous strains of pathogenic bacteria in their saliva and also recover from wounds when attacked by other dragons. These conditions prove their strong defenses.
Barney Bishop and his team from College of Science at George Mason University investigated whether they could isolated CAMPs from Komodo Dragon blood. Cationic Antimicrobial Peptide (CAMPs) is produced by living creatures and plays an important role in immune system defenses. The researchers have utilized bioprospecting.
They have incubated the Komodo Dragon blood by using and developing negatively charged hydrogen ions in order to capture the positively charged peptides. From the incubation, the researchers were able to identify and sequence 48 potential CAMPs using mass spectroscopy.
Eight peptides were then tested and seven from these showed significant potency against "Pseudomonas aeruginosa" and "Staphylococcus aureus". The eighth peptide was only effective with the pseudomonas species.
As reported by Mail Online, the researchers have considered bioprospecting in CAMP discovery that reveals the presence of novel histone-derived antimicrobial peptides in Komodo dragon's plasma. The findings reveal that there is more to intact histone and histone-derived peptides in fighting infections and microbes to protect the host.
The process in obtaining cationic antimicrobial peptide in Komodo Dragon's plasma was based on the researcher's previous study with the blood of alligator. The previous research is to expand the goal of CAMPs in the medical industry. The researchers then concluded that the creature's plasma cuddles potentially effective antimicrobials in the treatment of various infections including disease-causing resistant bacteria.
