Selective induction of antimicrobial peptides from keratinocytes by staphylococcal bacteria

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most clinically important inflammation-inducing pathogens, while Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) is nonpathogenic and hardly causes inflammation on skin. β-defensins, antimicrobial peptides, are secreted from keratinocytes constitutively or upon induction by various microorganisms. However, the difference between S. aureus and S. epidermidis is still unclear in terms of their influences on the production of β-defensins. In this study, we focused on the influences of S. aureus and S. epidermidis on the keratinocyte innate immune response. Pathogenic S. aureus mainly induced human β-defensin (hBD) 1 and hBD3, but not hBD2, and nonpathogenic S. epidermidis mainly induced hBD2 from human keratinocytes. Molecular weight fractions of >10 kDa prepared from S. aureus supernatants induced the production of hBD1 and hBD3. On the other hand, molecular weight fraction of >100 kDa prepared from S. epidermidis supernatants induced the production of hBD2.Furthermore, the secreted products of S. epidermidis used the toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 pathway in the induction of hBD2 production. The secreted products of S. aureus and S. epidermidis differentially induced subtypes of hBD through different receptors, which may be associated with the difference in virulence between these two bacteria.

► Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis differentially induced human β-defensin (hBD) subtypes.
► S. epidermidis mainly induced hBD2 through the toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 pathway.
► S. aureus mainly induced hBD1 and hBD3 through a TLR2-independent pathway.