Antimicrobial peptide-producing dermal preadipocytes defend against Candida albicans skin infection via the FGFR-MEK-ERK pathway.

ABSTRACT: Dermal fibroblasts (dFBs) defend against deep bacterial skin infections by differentiating into preadipocytes (pAds) that produce the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin; this differentiation is known as the dermal reactive adipogenesis response. However, the role of dFBs in fungal infection remains unknown. Here, we found that cathelicidin-producing pAds were present in high numbers in skin lesions from patients with cutaneous Candida granulomas. Second, we showed that dermal Candida albicans (C. albicans) infection in mice robustly triggered the dermal reactive adipogenesis response and induced cathelicidin expression, and inhibition of adipogenesis with pharmacological inhibitors of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) impaired skin resistance to C. albicans. In vitro, C.

SUBMITTER: Wang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10688742 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature