Epidermal Keratinocytes Initiate Wound Healing and Pro-Inflammatory Immune Responses Following Percutaneous Schistosome Infection
epidermal keratinocytes Schistosoma mansoni cercariae CD34 hair follicles Ki67 pro-inflammatory cytokine keratin 6b IL-1α IL-1β barrier repair wound healing skin cells schistosome larvae hair follicle marker cell proliferation marker inflammatory proteins keratin protein interleukin-1 alpha interleukin-1 beta skin repair healing process
TLDR Epidermal keratinocytes start wound healing and inflammation after schistosome infection.
The study investigated the response of epidermal keratinocytes to Schistosoma mansoni cercariae infection in C57BL/6 mice. It was found that within 24 hours of infection, there was an expansion of epidermal keratinocyte precursors, which displayed a more differentiated phenotype. This expansion was associated with increased CD34 staining in the basal bulge region of hair follicles and a higher frequency of Ki67+ nuclei in both hair follicles and interfollicular epidermis. Additionally, pro-inflammatory cytokine and keratin 6b gene expression were transiently upregulated. In vitro experiments showed that keratinocyte precursors produced IL-1α and IL-1β in response to cercarial antigens, indicating that keratinocytes initiate barrier repair and pro-inflammatory responses similar to wound healing upon cercarial infection.
