Complement modulates the cutaneous microbiome and inflammatory milieu
Abstract
Healthy skin is colonized by a diversity of microbiota. Little is known regarding how the host immune response influences the skin microbiota. We demonstrate a role for complement, a key component of innate immunity, in host-microbe interactions of the skin. Inhibiting a key component of the complement cascade reduced diversity and altered composition of the skin microbiota, parallel to a reduction in skin inflammatory cell infiltration and downregulation of skin defense and immune gene expression. Further, we find that the commensal skin microbiota regulates the expression of complement genes in the skin. These results suggest an interactive role between complement and the microbial ecosystem of the skin and could have important implications for inflammatory and/or infectious skin disorders.
- Publication:
-
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science
- Pub Date:
- September 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1073/pnas.1307855110
- Bibcode:
- 2013PNAS..11015061C