Scientific researchers created a synthetic mucus to tame bacterial pathogens, according to research presented during the 2017 Experimental Biology meeting held in Chicago April 22-26.
Mucus is a ubiquitous presence throughout the body. Humans produce approximately a gallon of the substance daily, offering a protective coating throughout the entire digestive tract, the mouth, eyes, lungs, female reproductive tract and the nose. Mucus helps maintain a balance between the beneficial and potentially harmful microbes in our bodies.
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To investigate how mucus achieves this balance, researchers cultured two types of bacteria known to work against one another in the mouth: Streptococcus mutans, which causes cavities, and Streptococcus sanguinis, a bacteria known to promote health conditions in the mouth. Grown together outside of the presence of saliva — which contains the molecules that form mucus gel called mucins — the cavity-causing bacteria outgrew the beneficial bacteria. When cultured in the presence of a synthetic mucus containing the mucins found in saliva, the bacteria grew more evenly.
"I am so excited about mucus because I am convinced it can help us find new strategies for protecting us from infections, in particular those that relate to an overgrowth of harmful microbes," said Katharina Ribbeck, PhD, professor of tissue engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. "We want to use these engineered polymers to control problematic pathogens inside and outside of the body and to stop the growing threat of antibiotic resistant microbes."
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