Commensal 3D Skin – An In Situ Model to Explore Microbiome-Mediated Skin Toxicity

Maya Kissner

German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), Pesticides Safety, Max-Dohrn-Straße 8-10, 10589 Berlin [DE], maya.kissner@bfr.bund.de

Author(s):
Maya Kissner, Aline Rosin, Tewes Tralau, Tessa Höper, Lisa Lemoine

The Human Microbiome Project revealed the extent of bacterial colonization in the human body and their crucial role in health. Yet, toxicity evaluation in risk assessment relies on animal and biologically simplified models, neglecting the microbiome’s metabolic potential and its impact on xenobiotics’ toxicity. Although the skin is a site of first exposure, there is a limited availability of studies addressing skin microbiome interactions with xenobiotics.

We established a commensal human skin model to better emulate healthy skin and enable future investigations of microbiome-mediated effects on host health. The system is based on a commercial human full thickness skin model, which could be stably colonized with a defined bacterial community (DBC). The DBC includes ten different bacterial species which cover three main phyla, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria, in ratios as found on skin. The DBC’s suitability for skin colonization was evaluated against two or one phyla combination.

All three or two phyla combinations displayed a moderate bacteria count retaining species diversity and showed no cytotoxicity. This suggests, that higher species diversity may balance colonization regarding cell count and maintenance of species diversity enabling a biologically stable co‑culture. Transcriptional profiles of the skin showed no significant immune reaction or AMP production in response to these bacterial communities, suggesting an adaption process of the co-culture model.

 

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