Dermal adipocytes protect against invasive <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> skin infection

TLDR

Skin infections trigger fat responses, raising the question of whether adipose tissue can protect against infection despite its link to chronic inflammation. In mice, S. aureus infection induces dermal fat layer thickening, and newly formed adipocytes secrete the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin, whereas mature adipocytes produce less, making them less protective; mice unable to form new fat cells are more susceptible.

Abstract

Skin infection triggers fat responses Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation, but does fat tissue offer protection during infection? Zhang et al. noticed that the fat layers in the skin of mice thickened after inoculation with the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (see the Perspective by Alcorn and Kolls). Mutant mice incapable of forming new fat cells were more susceptible to infection. The differentiating fat cells secreted a small-molecule peptide called cathelicidin, specifically in response to the infection. By contrast, mature fat cells produce less cathelicidin, and are thus less protective. Science , this issue p. 67 ; see also p. 26