Peptides Might Help Us Fight Superbugs

Peptides Might Help Us Fight Superbugs
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Researchers found a key role for peptides in your skin. They identified a process to supercharge the immune system’s response to bacteria. Probably one of the most alarmingly believable (and usually overlooked) doomsday plots is the increase of the superbug. Such bacteria appear to be immune to antibiotics. Scientists, however, succeeded in finding a new possible treatment, bringing light in the worst health case ever. They believed that all this time, the secret element was in our skin.

Our bodies are known to be good at battling off harmful bacteria. The immune system is always alert for pathogen invaders. Unfortunately, it can win every time. So, scientists from the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InStem) and Unilever have discovered a way to raise that immune activity.

The immune system charges up its defenses even before bacteria arrive inside our bodies. Skin cells create molecules dubbed antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which, as their title indicated, destroy microbes before they can harm us or cause illness.

Peptides Might Help Us Fight Superbugs

Moreover, they fight against bacteria, fungi, and yeast successfully. These peptides are advanced and can target a lot of various parts of the attackers, so it’s difficult for them to increase endurance.

Researchers examined what manages that process, and discovered a way to ramp it up. Usually, AMPs appeared when microbes come in contact with skin cells, so they identified that such a thing happens due to lower rates of a protein known as caspase-8. The molecules are also very significant because they can speed up wound healing.

Furthermore, researchers utilized molecular techniques to artificially decrease caspase-8 levels and discovered how a larger amount of AMPs were released from the skin cells. Commanding this mechanism could help develop new drugs that prevent infections from taking hold, which is somehow useful for people with reduced immune systems.


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Jeffrey likes to write about health and fitness topics, being a champion fitness instructor in the past.

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