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Staphylococcus aureus biofilms are associated with chronic skin infections and are orders of magnitude more resistant to antimicrobials and host responses. S. aureus contains conserved nonribosomal peptide synthetases that produce the cyclic dipeptides tyrvalin and phevalin (aureusimine A and B, respectively). The biological function of these compounds has been speculated to be involved in virulence factor gene expression in S. aureus, protease inhibition in eukaryotic cells, and interspecies bacterial communication. However, the exact biological role of these compounds is unknown. Here, we report that S. aureus biofilms produce greater amounts of phevalin than their planktonic counterparts. Phevalin had no obvious impact on the extracellular metabolome of S. aureus as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. When administered to human keratinocytes, phevalin had a modest effect on gene expression. However, conditioned medium from S. aureus spiked with phevalin amplified differences in keratinocyte gene expression compared to conditioned medium alone. Phevalin may be exploited as potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target for chronic, S. aureus biofilm-based infections.

Fifteen American warships are in the Middle East, the blockade of Iranian ports underway, a new and highly risky showdown with Iran. Trump is doubling down in his fight with Pope Leo as J.D. Vance, who is Catholic, shrugs off Trump's post depicting himself as Jesus Christ. Congressman Eric Swalwell is announcing tonight he's out resigning from Congress after CNN reported on the explosive allegations of sexual misconduct against the California Democrat and gubernatorial candidate; now, an embattled Republican is also stepping down. GUESTS: Steven Horrell, Laura Secor, Gretchen Carlson, David Pressman

The AAUP was founded to protect the rights of faculty members at American colleges and universities. Today, it does this through collective bargaining and advocacy activities within campus communities as well as through its work on behalf of faculty members within the broader public sphere. These activities place the AAUP squarely in the crosshairs of forces trying to undermine institutions of higher education from within and from without. The first step each of people as AAUP members should take is to convince at least one colleague to join the Association. The quick growth that would result would empower the organization more than any other action.

A long winter of heightened tensions between Israel, Iran, and the United States seems to finally have thawed, on this first day of May. Our partner The New York Times has reported that economic sanctions have taken their toll on the Iranian government, and direct negotiations seem to have calmed Israeli nerves. But while Iran’s international relations may be improving, the country's internal politics have become increasingly hard-line. In 2009, Iran's Green Movement took to the street of Tehran to protest what citizens perceived to be rigged presidential elections. Today, nearly three years after the Iranian government’s brutal crackdown on the Green Movement, the country's ideological spectrum is narrower than ever before. Many citizens choose apathy over elections, as Laura Secor reports in this week's The New Yorker. One Iranian activist named Amir is explained this way: \"In the summer of 2009, Amir was a reformist. He believed that the system could be democratized from within, and so he participated in every election. No longer: the parliamentary election of 2012 would be the first one he sat out.\" Laura Secor is a contributor at The New Yorker. Her piece, \"Election, Monitored,\" appears in the May 7, 2012 edition.

Steve Negus reviews \"Children of Paradise: The Struggle for the Soul of Iran\" by Laura Secor.

A reader looks for book recommendations that explore life in Egypt or Iran. Our suggestions include 'The Makana Investigation' series.

In another sign of Iran's thaw with the West, the Government in Tehran has agreed to renew full diplomatic relations with Britain - the country its leaders have in the past described as The Little Satan. In another sign of Iran's thaw with the West, the Government in Tehran has agreed to renew full diplomatic relations with Britain - the country its leaders have in the past described as The Little Satan.