Hair of the Mouse: A Skin Bacteria Cocktail Gets Follicles Back on Their Feet

May 2021 in “ Cell Host & Microbe ”

Jeanmarie R. Gonzalez, Geil R. Merana, Tiffany C. Scharschmidt

hair follicle regeneration skin bacteria Streptococcus Staphylococcus keratinocyte-intrinsic IL-1R1 signaling germ-free mice MyD88 cytokine IL-1β antibiotic Vaseline hair regrowth skin microbes IL-1R1 signaling immune signaling pathway IL-1β antibiotics

TLDR Skin bacteria, specifically Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, help in hair regrowth after skin injury and speed up wound healing.

The research by Wang et al. (2021) found that skin bacteria, specifically Streptococcus and Staphylococcus, play a significant role in hair follicle regeneration after skin wounding through keratinocyte-intrinsic IL-1R1 signaling. The study showed that hair regrowth was considerably slower in germ-free mice compared to those with a normal microbial population. The immune signaling pathway MyD88 and the cytokine IL-1β were identified as key players in this process. In a human trial, wounds treated with an antibiotic had slower healing and less Staphylococcus compared to those treated with Vaseline, suggesting that skin bacteria can speed up the healing of clinically uninfected wounds in humans. This research highlights the beneficial role of skin bacteria in wound healing and hair follicle regeneration.

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