Title |
Ancient Antimicrobial Peptides Kill Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens: Australian Mammals Provide New Options
|
---|---|
Published in |
PLOS ONE, August 2011
|
DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0024030 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Jianghui Wang, Emily S. W. Wong, Jane C. Whitley, Jian Li, Jessica M. Stringer, Kirsty R. Short, Marilyn B. Renfree, Katherine Belov, Benjamin G. Cocks |
Abstract |
To overcome the increasing resistance of pathogens to existing antibiotics the 10×'20 Initiative declared the urgent need for a global commitment to develop 10 new antimicrobial drugs by the year 2020. Naturally occurring animal antibiotics are an obvious place to start. The recently sequenced genomes of mammals that are divergent from human and mouse, including the tammar wallaby and the platypus, provide an opportunity to discover novel antimicrobials. Marsupials and monotremes are ideal potential sources of new antimicrobials because they give birth to underdeveloped immunologically naïve young that develop outside the sterile confines of a uterus in harsh pathogen-laden environments. While their adaptive immune system develops innate immune factors produced either by the mother or by the young must play a key role in protecting the immune-compromised young. In this study we focus on the cathelicidins, a key family of antimicrobial peptide genes. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 33% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 22% |
Tunisia | 1 | 11% |
Unknown | 3 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Scientists | 5 | 56% |
Members of the public | 2 | 22% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 11% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 11% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 3 | 2% |
Colombia | 2 | 1% |
Portugal | 1 | <1% |
Sweden | 1 | <1% |
Brazil | 1 | <1% |
Spain | 1 | <1% |
Belgium | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 124 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Researcher | 26 | 19% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 24 | 18% |
Student > Master | 20 | 15% |
Student > Bachelor | 12 | 9% |
Student > Postgraduate | 9 | 7% |
Other | 20 | 15% |
Unknown | 23 | 17% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 65 | 49% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 12 | 9% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 7% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 7 | 5% |
Computer Science | 2 | 1% |
Other | 13 | 10% |
Unknown | 25 | 19% |