For example, 11 body sites, including the arm, were found to be dominated by Malassezia fungi (Table 1), but in contrast, other sites including the foot (plantar heel, toenail, and toe web) exhibited a broad fungal diversity,

with the presence of a wide range of fungal genera (i.e., Rhodotorula, Debaromyces, Cryptococcus, and Candida) [90]. These results demonstrate SB203580 purchase that physiologic attributes and topography of the skin differentially shape the mycobiota and microbiota composition. Indeed a healthy microbiota benefits many aspects of skin physiology, including wound healing [91], protection against pathogens [92], and normal development of immune responses in the skin [77]. Members of the microbiota that dwell deep in the dermis layers and hair follicles help in recolonization of the epidermis, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands, and produce molecules that exert immunoregulatory effects [93]. For instance, after wounding, staphylococcal lipoteichoic acid

has been shown to inhibit both inflammatory cytokine release and inflammation triggered by injury through a TLR2-dependent mechanism [92]. In this complex homeostasis, keratinocytes, which express many PRRs, such as the TLR family [94], have a key role in the innate immune response against pathogens, contributing to both detection and defense [95]. In direct response to microbes, or through indirect activation by cytokines such as IL-22, keratinocytes can produce a wide array of antimicrobial peptides, such as beta-defensin and the cathelicidin LL-37 [96, 97]. Several other immunological

players with various roles in skin immunity have been detected selleck products in the epidermis and dermis (Fig. 1) (for a review see [98]), such as migratory CD8+ DCs [99]. Langerhans cells (LCs) contribute to priming adaptive T-cell immunity to skin pathogens such as yeast (C. albicans) and bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus), favoring the induction of Th17-cell responses by Tyrosine-protein kinase BLK direct Ag presentation to Th17 cells [100]. LCs also appear to be immunosuppressive, either through inducing T-cell deletion or activating Treg cells that dampen skin responses to fungi [101]. Using a BM chimeric mouse model in which only LCs express MHC class II IE, it was demonstrated that CD4+ T cells responding to Ag presentation by activated LCs initially proliferated but then failed to differentiate into effector/memory cells or to survive long term [101]. The tolerogenic function of LCs was maintained after exposure to potent adjuvants consistently with their failure to translocate the NF-κB family member RelB from the cytoplasm to the nucleus [101]. This commitment of LCs to tolerogenic function may explain why commensal microorganisms confined to the skin epithelium are tolerated, whereas invading pathogens that breach the epithelium and activate dermal DCs stimulate a strong immune response. In the presence of C.