Fig. 3: Cutaneous AMPs disturb the skin microbiome.

a RNA expression level of antimicrobial peptides. Punch biopsies were taken from MF lesions (n = 7 patch, n = 5 plaque) and adjacent nonlesional skin (n = 12). Expression levels were determined with RT-qPCR and normalized to GAPDH. S100A8 and S100A9 together form the heterodimer calprotectin. Depicted are bar plots with median and interquartile range, Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple comparison correction. b, c Activities of AMPs against Staphylococci isolates. Survival of clinical isolates S. aureus MFMZ1 and S. hominis MFMZ1, clinical control strain S. aureus DSM11823 as well as isolates from healthy subjects S. aureus EM01 and S. epidermidis MV01 in presence of b, 1 µg and c, 5 µg AMPs. Bacterial survival was assessed by comparing number of colony forming units (CFU) with and without AMP treatment for each isolate and AMP. Displayed are bacterial survival for three biological replicates in percent (b) and log2-fold change (c), respectively.