The immune system tolerates the colonization of commensal bacteria on the skin with the aid of regulatory T cells during the first few weeks of life, a mouse study shows.
he skin is home to millions of commensal bacteria and immune cells. Yet how the skin microbiome is established—in particular, why the immune system does not attack these bacteria—has been little studied. Now, a team led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), has shown that, to establish tolerance by the immune system, colonization of the skin by commensal bacteria occurs during the first few days after birth in mice. The team’s findings were published today (November 17) in Immunity.
“This is an elegant and well-executed study showing a regulatory T cell–mediated establishment of commensal-specific tolerance,” said Keisuke “Chris” Nagao of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, who was not involved in the work.