Interleukin-26 (IL-26) is a novel anti-microbial peptide produced by T cells in response to staphylococcal enterotoxin

• Main Authors: Woetmann, Anders, Alhede, Morten, Dabelsteen, Sally, Bjarnsholt, Thomas, Rybtke, Morten, Nastasi, Claudia, Krejsgaard, Thorbjørn, Andersen, Mads Hald, Bonefeld, Charlotte M., Geisler, Carsten, Givskov, Michael, Odum, Niels
• Other Authors: Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Antimicrobial Peptide; IL-26
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/89004; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/44765
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Anti-microbial peptides are produced at outer and inner surfaces by epithelia and innate immune cells in response to bacterial infection. Staphylococcus aureus is an enterotoxin producing, Gram-positive pathogen, which is a major cause of soft tissue infections and life-threatening bacteremia and sepsis. Here we show that (i) skin T cells in chronic wounds infected with S. aureus express interleukin-26 (IL-26) in situ, (ii) staphylococcal enterotoxins (SE) trigger IL-26 expression in T cell lines and primary skin T cells, and (iii) IL-26 triggers death and inhibits biofilm formation and growth of S. aureus. Thus, we provide novel evidence that IL-26 is an anti-microbial peptide produced by T cells in response to SE. Accordingly, we propose that IL-26 producing T cells take part in the innate immune response to SE producing S. aureus and thus play a novel role in the primary innate immune defense in addition to their classical role in adaptive immunity.