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Researchers at OSU have identified a negative feedback loop that regulates innate immune function through zinc metabolism in mice.

Activation of the transcription factor NF-κB is essential for innate immune function and requires strict regulation. The micronutrient zinc modulates proper host defense, and zinc deficiency is associated with elevated inflammation and worse outcomes in response to bacterial infection and sepsis.

Daren Knoell, senior author of the study and a professor of pharmacy and internal medicine at Ohio State, said:

“Without zinc on board to begin with, it could increase vulnerability to infection. But our work is focused on what happens once you get an infection – if you are deficient in zinc you are at a disadvantage because your defense system is amplified, and inappropriately so.

The benefit to health is explicit: Zinc is beneficial because it stops the action of a protein, ultimately preventing excess inflammation.”

Pandas’ innate immune systems produce an antimicrobial peptide that rapidly kills drug-resistant strains of bacteria.

Scientists at China’s Nanjing Agricultural University found the peptide, cathelicidin-AM, by mining the panda genome. The research showed that the synthesized peptide was effective against a wide spectrum of microorganisms. It killed bacteria by directly affecting the bacterial cell wall and membrane, and worked six times faster than existing antibiotic clindamycin.