Recognition of Propionibacterium acnes by human TLR2 heterodimers

Propionibacterium acnes has been considered as a crucial contributor to the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris. The interaction between P. acnes and the host is mainly mediated by Toll like receptor (TLR) 2 recognition. TLR2 homodimers recognize P. acnes in mice, but here we describe the prerequisite of TLR2/1 and TLR2/6 heterodimers in human cells for P. acnes recognition. P. acnes-induced NF-κB and AP-1activation observed in HEK hTLR2-transfected but not control cells confirmed the specificity of TLR2 recognition. The activation was blocked by neutralizing antibodies against TLR2, TLR1 and TLR6, as well as the TLR2 antagonist CU-CPT22, which showed no selectivity towards human TLR2 heterodimers. The combination of anti-TLR1 and anti-TLR6 antibodies completely abrogated activation by P. acnes. In primary human keratinocytes, P. acnes-increased NF-κB phosphorylation was inhibited by anti-TLR6 and anti-TLR2 antibodies. Furthermore, P. acnes-induced inflammatory responses were impaired by anti-TLR2 neutralizing antibodies and fully blocked by CU-CPT22. Our study suggests species-specific recognition of P. acnes by TLR2 heterodimers which can be exploited therapeutically by small molecules targeting TLR2 for the control of inflammatory responses.