Skin Immune Landscape: Inside and Outside the Organism

Figure 1

Illustration of skin microbiota interaction with the SIS. The alliance between skin immunity and local flora allows protection against external pathogens and maintenance of tolerance to resident microorganisms, simultaneously. In a healthy state, resident bacteria such as S. epidermidis are able to contain S. aureus pathogenicity. Moreover, S. epidermidis was shown to be required for the production of IL-17 and IFN-γ by T cells inhibiting L. major growth. However, altered resident microbial communities or local expansion of some members of skin microbiota with harmful potential alters this alliance. S. aureus is able to produce δ toxins that trigger local allergic responses in skin resulting in T_H2 inflammatory immune response. Adapted from [157].