关键词：抗菌药物；冰醋酸；抗生素；细菌性疾病
摘 要：Wounds sustained by sharks and their skate and ray relatives have been observed to heal rapidly and without infection. A protective secretion produced by epidermal mucus cells in stingrays is being investigated to understand its role in the healing process and to identify mucus-associated antimicrobial compounds with the potential for development into novel therapeutics to treat wound infection pathogens. Freshly obtained mucus from two species of ray (cownose ray, Rhinoptera bonasus, and Atlantic stingray, Dasyatis sabina) contains at least 20 proteins/protein subunits based on gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions. Chemical extraction of fresh mucus with (1) Tris-EDTA, (2) acetic acid followed by solid phase extraction, and (3) mild surfactants (Triton X-100, Tween 80, and N-octylglucoside) results in partial purification of mucus compounds. Fresh mucus also contains bacterial symbionts that are not seawater contaminants. Forty-six bacterial isolates cultured from cownose ray and 49 from Atlantic stingray epidermal mucus demonstrated antibiotic activity against at least one human pathogenic tester strain in primary screens performed at Mote Marine Laboratory. Of the 46 cownose ray isolates, 13 demonstrated antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacterial tester strains when screened at University of South Florida Center for Biological Defense. Culturable libraries of all isolates have been cryopreserved.