title: Substance P and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide: Key Regulators of Cutaneous Microbiota Homeostasis.
abstract: Neurohormones diffuse in sweat and epidermis leading skin bacterial microflora to be largely exposed to these host factors. Bacteria can sense a multitude of neurohormones, but their role in skin homeostasis was only investigated recently. The first study focused on substance P (SP), a neuropeptide produced in abundance by skin nerve terminals. SP is without effect on the growth of Gram-positive (Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, andStaphylococcus epidermidis) and Gram-negative (Pseudomonas fluorescens) bacteria. However, SP is stimulating the virulence ofBacillusandStaphylococci. The action of SP is highly specific with a threshold below the nanomolar level. Mechanisms involved in the response to SP are different between bacteria although they are all leading to increased adhesion and/or virulence. The moonlighting protein EfTu was identified as the SP-binding site inB. cereusandStaphylococci. In skin nerve terminals, SP is co-secreted with the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which was shown to modulate the virulence ofS. epidermidis. This effect is antagonized by SP. Identification of the CGRP sensor, DnaK, allowed understanding this phenomenon as EfTu and DnaK are apparently exported from the bacterium through a common system before acting as SP and CGRP sensors. Many other neuropeptides are expressed in skin, and their potential effects on skin bacteria remain to be investigated. Integration of these host signals by the cutaneous microbiota now appears as a key parameter in skin homeostasis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Awa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: N'Diaye
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen, Evreux, France; Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of Russian Academy of Science, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gannesen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Borrel
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Maillot
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Enault
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Pierre-Jean
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.affiliation: Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of Russian Academy of Science , Moscow , Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Plakunov
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chevalier
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lesouhaitier
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology Signals and Microenvironment (LMSM), Normandie Université Rouen , Evreux , France.
authors.forename: Marc G J
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Feuilloley
keywords: DnaK chaperone protein; EfTu thermo unstable ribosomal elongation factor; MscL mechanosensitive channel; calcitonin gene-related peptide; microbial endocrinology; moonlighting proteins; skin bacterial communication; substance P