Unilever, the UK's STFC Hartree Center and IBM Research worked together to discover how the skin can improve its natural defense against germs.
When it's in balance, our skin and its microbiome form a natural partnership that helps keep it healthy and defend against external threats like pollutants and germs that can cause infections. Changes in this association (called dysbiosis) can lead to imbalances in the microbiome producing body odor, skin problems and, in more extreme cases, medical conditions such as eczema (or atopic dermatitis).
In addition to housing your microbiome, the skin is an immunologically active organ that contributes to our body's innate immune system with its natural slightly acidic pH, mechanical strength, lipids and the natural production – via skin cells – of protein-like materials called antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Together, they form the first line of defense against infection-causing microbes that land on the skin.
Unilever R&D and its global network of research partners have been investigating the role of skin immunity and AMPs for over a decade. Unilever turned to IBM Research to develop new ways to understand, at the molecular level, how its products interact with AMPs to improve the skin's defense activity.
IBM and Unilever, in collaboration with STFC – which hosts one of the Discovery Accelerators from IBM Research at the Hartree Center, UK – used high-performance computing and advanced simulations on IBM Power10 to understand how AMPs work and translate their knowledge into consumer products that enhance the effects of these natural defense peptides1.
Work with the STFC's Department of Scientific Informatics has found that small-molecule additives (low molecular weight organic compounds) can increase the potency of these naturally occurring defense peptides. Using advanced simulation methods from IBM, in combination with experimental studies from Unilever, they also identified specific new molecular mechanisms that could account for this enhanced potency.
Computer simulations were developed to investigate how individual molecules interact with bacterial membranes on a molecular scale and thereby demonstrate the fundamental biophysical mechanisms at play. The results of these simulations were compared with those of extensive experimental laboratory tests carried out by Unilever to confirm the computational predictions.
“This work is a great example of the power of our ongoing collaboration with IBM and Unilever, working together to explore new possibilities for the healthcare and personal care industry using advanced digital technologies. This is exactly the kind of work we will continue to do through the Hartree National Center for Digital Innovation,” said Professor Katherine Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre.
“It is inspiring to see IBM, STFC and Unilever working together to apply the power of high-performance computing and unlock a new level of understanding of skin defense,” said Samantha Samaras, Global Vice President of Beauty and Personal Care R&D at Unilever.
This work allows us to understand how these molecules can improve hygiene, but also provides a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the improved performance of AMP, combining simplified modeling systems and advanced computing that have radically accelerated the technology's evaluation. It is hoped that this work will succeed in creating innovative and sustainable products that can help protect us from pathogens both now and in the future.
The combination of these technologies has allowed the scientific method to be supercharged to promote discovery at a much faster pace, a process IBM calls accelerated discovery. The team hopes their work can help Unilever better understand how to leverage MPAs in future products to help countless people around the world through the development of effective and sustainable hygiene products while respecting applicable regulations.
For IBM, this work is also the start of an exciting new chapter as it explores how it can help accelerate research into other harmful pathogens. More broadly, this work opens a new avenue for discovering natural small-molecule enhancers to amplify the function of antimicrobial peptides. Understanding these mechanisms and the process they use can be applied to other research, for example, in the search for new antimicrobials.
References
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1Losasso, V., Agarwal, K., Waskar, M., et al. Small molecules enhance the potency of natural antimicrobial peptides (Small molecules enhance the potency of natural antimicrobial peptides). Biophysical Journal. Volume 121, ISSUE 3, P491-501, February 1, 2022.
