Laboratory and clinical studies confirm emergence of resistance against antimicrobial peptides is less probable than observed for conventional antibiotics, according to Dr. Zasloff. This, he believes, provides ample impetus to develop both natural and man-made antimicrobial peptides into therapeutically useful agents for the treatment and prevention of many infectious diseases.
Over the past 15 years, Dr. Zasloffs own scientific research has focused on the innate immune systems of animals. While working at the NIH, he discovered that frogs produced powerful antibiotics in their skin, which he named magainins, from the Hebrew word for shield. When magainin comes into contact with certain cell membranes, including those of many disease causing microbes, it assumes a helical coil shape and breaks through the membrane into the cell, destroying it. Dr. Zasloff and his research team also were the discoverers of squalamine in sharks. Squalamine was the first of a novel class of steroids which has shown to be effective against solid tumors. It is currently in Phase II clinical trials being evaluated for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and refractory ovarian cancer.
The innate antibiotics of animals were discovered by scientists who were bewildered by the many examples in nature of plants and animals living in apparent harmony with microbes, said Dr. Zasloff. During this era of computer-based education and research, we should not forget that direct observation of the natural world still remains an important source of insight and discovery.
Earlier this month Dr. Zasloff was named Georgetown University Medical Centers first Dean of Research and Translational Science to oversee biomedical research and its translation from the laboratory to patient care.
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Contact: Amy DeMaria
demariaa@georgetown.edu
202-687-6981
Georgetown University Medical Center
23-Jan-2002