Matriptase-deficient mice exhibit ichthyotic skin with a selective shift in skin microbiota.

ABSTRACT: Suppressor of tumorigenicity 14 (St14) encodes matriptase, a serine protease, which regulates processing of profilaggrin to filaggin in vivo. Here, we report that transgenic mice with 1% of wild-type St14 levels (St14(hypo/-)) display aberrant processing of profilaggrin and model human ichthyotic skin phenotypes. Scaling of the skin appears at 1 week of age with underlying epidermal acanthosis and orthohyperkeratosis as well as a CD4+ T-cell dermal infiltrate. Upregulation of antimicrobial peptides occurs when challenged by exposure to the postnatal environment. Direct genomic sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes to query microbial diversity identifies a significant shift in both phylogeny and community structure between St14(hypo/-) mice and control littermates. St14(hypo/-) mice have a

SUBMITTER: Scharschmidt TC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2791707 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature