Previous Research

Return to current research

For decades under the leadership of program founder Dr. Carl Luer, the Marine Biomedical Research Program has emphasized basic and applied research using sharks, skates, and stingrays as laboratory animal models. Areas of interest have included biochemistry, physiology, immunology, reproductive biology and embryonic development.

Major research efforts in the program have included investigating the remarkable overall health of sharks and their skate and ray relatives—including studies to investigate their low incidence of disease, including cancer, and their relatively rapid and infection-free healing of wounds—with the goal to support a better understanding of health problems in higher animals, including humans, and to benefit the wild populations of the organisms studied.

Projects over the years

• Cytotoxic factors produced by cultured shark immune cells: The project has focused on isolating and characterizing the bioactive factors that are produced by short-term cultures of shark immune cells. Mote studies have shown that these immune-cell derived factors can inhibit the growth of human tumor cell lines. Studies have also focused on understanding the cellular pathways activated by these factors that result in tumor cell death. This project has been conducted in partnership with Dr. Cathy Walsh of Mote’s Marine Immunology Program and Dr. A.B. Bodine at Clemson University. The project has been funded by the Henry L. and Grace Doherty Charitable Foundation, a Florida High Tech Corridor Industry Seed Grant, and numerous matching grants.
• Novel antimicrobial compounds from epidermal mucus: This project has looked at the microbial makeup of the epidermal mucus produced by stingrays in order to determine whether the mucus contains antibiotic properties that could be used in human health applications. Mote’s Dr. Carl Luer served as lead investigator on this multi-institution project including Mote scientists (co-investigators Dr. Cathy Walsh, Marine Immunology, Dr. Kim Ritchie, Marine Microbiology Program), Daemen College (Dr. Laura Edsberg; Dr. Jennifer Wyffels), USF Center for Biological Defense (Dr. Andy Cannons, Dr. Vicki Luna) and Clemson University (Dr. A.B. Bodine). The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.
• Wound healing in stingrays: This project has used controlled experimental wounding to characterize the healing process of wounds penetrating the epidermal and dermal layers of skin in stingrays. Anecdotal reports of relatively rapid and infection-free healing of wounds in sharks and rays are common, yet studies to characterize the healing process are rare. This project has included collaboration with Dr. Cathy Walsh of Mote’s Marine Immunology Program and Dr. Laura Edsberg and Dr. Jennifer Wyffels at Daemen College. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense.