Whether it’s a runny nose or a hacking cough that sounds like you have broken glass in your chest, most of us consider mucus a bad thing. It’s a sign that we’re sick and it’s pretty gross. New research conducted at San Diego State, however, has discovered valuable properties in the slimy substance, suggesting that mucus is, in fact, good for us.
A research team, led by postdoctoral fellow Jeremy Barr, has discovered a new immune system within mucus containing bacteriophage (bacteria-infecting viruses), which actually protects the body from infection. This new system provides an immunity now known as Bacteriophage Adhesion to Mucus.
How does BAM work? To stave off invading infections, the body adheres itself to this layer of mucus, triggering the protective properties of the bacteriophage within. Not only does this discovery provide valuable new insight on a previously unknown way the body fights infection, but it can lead to advancements in how the med- ical field battles diseases.
During the research process, Barr’s team added this bacteriophage to mucus-producing tissue—taking samples from various organisms including a sea anemone, mouse and human being. Once the mucus and bacteriophage bonded, the team introduced strains of the E. coli bacteria and discovered that the bacteriophage at- tacked the intruding virus, protecting its host from infection. To confirm its discovery, the team infected a control group of identical tissue, but without the protective bacteriophage with E. coli. The control group experienced a cell death rate that was three times higher than the group containing the BAM immunity.
Barr said the possibilities for this new immunity are endless, and he envisions its application to various medicinal treatments.
“The biggest possible impact from the BAM work on the medical field may be to assist in the revitalization of research into phage therapy,” Barr said. “We show a novel mechanism that may be engineered to assist in the prevention of bacterial infections on mucosal surfaces.”
Barr went on to say that research such as his is among the first of the U.S.’ recent return to studying biophage as “viable alternatives to antibiotics.” He explained that the emergence of antibiotics in the 1940s, along with science’s poor grasp of phage and their functions, led to a shift away from research in that particular field.
“However, with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and with the fact that no major new antibiot- ics have been discovered in the last 25 years, the U.S. has begun to reconsider its abandonment of phage research and is quickly catching up to research in other countries, providing new insight into phage life cycle, mechanisms and use,” Barr said.
Barr’s research, funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, was published early last month in the May Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Barr’s work is not finished at SDSU; beginning next month, he will be an assistant research professor of biology.
