Towards standardized and reproducible research in skin microbiomes

SkinCom, a synthetic skin microbial community, enables reproducible investigations of the human skin microbiome

Existing models of the human skin have aided our understanding of skin health and disease. However, they currently lack a microbial component, despite microbes' demonstrated connections to various skin diseases. Here, we present a robust, standardized model of the skin microbial community (SkinCom) to support in vitro and in vivo investigations. Our methods lead to the formation of an accurate, reproducible, and diverse community of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Subsequent testing of SkinCom on the dorsal skin of mice allowed for DNA and RNA recovery from both the applied SkinCom and the dorsal skin, highlighting its practicality for in vivo studies and -omics analyses. Furthermore, 66% of the responses to common cosmetic chemicals in vitro were in agreement with a human trial. Therefore, SkinCom represents a valuable, standardized tool for investigating microbe-metabolite interactions and facilitates the experimental design of in vivo studies targeting host-microbe relationships.

Culturable bacterial flora of juveniles of Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771) and influence of abiotic factors on diversity

This study aims to determine the bacterial flora on the skin surface of the juvenile forms of Pelophylax ridibundus inhabiting three different altitudes and examine potential correlations between bacterial diversity, ecological location, and factors. It was attempted to characterize thirty-two bacteria isolated from the Melet River, Sülük Lake, and Çambaşı Pond through combined biochemical and molecular methods. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that the most important ecological factors for microorganisms to settle on frog skin were determined as water conductivity and dissolved oxygen amount. The most frequently isolated bacteria belonged to the genera Erwinia and Pseudomonas. Altitude positively affected Exiguobacterium. This first report of skin cultivable bacteria from P. ridibundus juvenile forms natural population improves our knowledge of amphibian skin bacterial flora. This study contributes to a better understanding of their ecology and how this species has survived in an environment modulated by altitude.

Human microbiomes in cancer development and therapy

Colonies formed by bacteria, archaea, fungi, and viral groups and their genomes, metabolites, and expressed proteins constitute complex human microbiomes. An increasing evidences showed that carcinogenesis and disease progression were link to microbiomes. Different organ sources, their microbial species, and their metabolites are different; the mechanisms of carcinogenic or procancerous are also different. Here, we summarize how microbiomes contribute to carcinogenesis and disease progression in cancers of the skin, mouth, esophagus, lung, gastrointestinal, genital, blood, and lymph malignancy. We also insight into the molecular mechanisms of triggering, promoting, or inhibiting carcinogenesis and disease progress induced by microbiomes or/and their secretions of bioactive metabolites. And then, the strategies of application of microorganisms in cancer treatment were discussed in detail. However, the mechanisms by which human microbiomes function are still poorly understood. The bidirectional interactions between microbiotas and endocrine systems need to be clarified. Probiotics and prebiotics are believed to benefit human health via a variety of mechanisms, in particular, in tumor inhibition. It is largely unknown how microbial agents cause cancer or how cancer progresses. We expect this review may open new perspectives on possible therapeutic approaches of patients with cancer.