Quantum Electronics

Contains research objectives and summary of research for eight research projects split into three sections and a report on one research project.U. S. Air Force - Office of Scientific Research (Contract F44620-71-C-0051)Joint Services Electronics Program (Contract DAAB07-75-C-1346

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 9

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo

Meeting Abstracts: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Clearwater Beach, FL, USA. 9-11 June 201

Selective antimicrobial action is provided by phenol-soluble modulins derived from Staphylococcus epidermidis, a normal resident of the skin.

Antimicrobial peptides serve as a first line of innate immune defense against invading organisms such as bacteria and viruses. In this study, we hypothesized that peptides produced by a normal microbial resident of human skin, Staphylococcus epidermidis, might also act as an antimicrobial shield and contribute to normal defense at the epidermal interface. We show by circular dichroism and tryptophan spectroscopy that phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs) gamma and delta produced by S. epidermidis have an alpha-helical character and a strong lipid membrane interaction similar to mammalian AMPs such as LL-37. Both PSMs directly induced lipid vesicle leakage and exerted selective antimicrobial action against skin pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus. PSMs functionally cooperated with each other and LL-37 to enhance antimicrobial action. Moreover, PSMs reduced Group A Streptococcus (GAS) but not the survival of S. epidermidis on mouse skin. Thus, these data suggest that the production of PSMgamma and PSMdelta by S. epidermidis can benefit cutaneous immune defense by selectively inhibiting the survival of skin pathogens while maintaining the normal skin microbiome