Cell Rep: immune cells kill viruses before they enter the body

February 12, 2020 / BIOON / -- according to a new study from the Karolinska Institute published in cell reports, an immune cell called neutrophils may be responsible for controlling the number of bacteria prior to the invasion of antibiotic resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on human skin This result can explain why the superbug appears only temporarily in some people Researchers have developed a "humanized" mouse model that transplants human skin into mice, which helps to see how human tissue reacts in the body They found that when the skin was infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), neutrophils were attracted to the skin, killing antibiotic resistant bacteria This may explain why some people are only transient carriers of MRSA Photo source: cell reports also highlights the vitality of human skin The outer layer of skin was once regarded as a dry and dead wasteland, which was a very challenging environment for microorganisms However, a large number of studies show that this is not the case "The skin is an incredibly dynamic biological environment where immune cells and microbes are isolated from each other to maintain a certain balance, a worrying peace," said Keira melican, senior researcher in the Department of Neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute "Breaking these balances often has bad consequences for humans, and understanding how this process works on the skin may have an impact on how we prevent and treat skin infections in the future "Staphylococcus aureus is a common bacterium, which is carried by 50% of the population However, it can also lead to some serious infections, which become more and more difficult to treat as antibiotic resistance increases Understanding human immune response is a key part of understanding how to inhibit the spread of resistant bacteria A common problem in substituting animals for humans is that from physiology to molecular interaction and some biological characteristics of animals are completely different from those of humans By incorporating human factors into animal models, it is possible to obtain a more realistic picture of human biology "We hope that our anthropogenic skin model will help ensure that our results are relevant to humans, not just mice," says Keira melican Reference: Keira melican et al Nuclear acceptance to nonivative MRSA at the stratum core of human skin mediums transient convergence Cell reports, online 29 October 2019, DOI: 10.1016/j.cellep.2019.09.055