Monasterium Laboratory, Skin&Hair Research, Muenster, Germany.
Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
BMC Res Notes. 2023 Mar 6;16(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s13104-023-06302-5.
Human hair follicles (HFs) are populated by a rich and diverse microbiome, traditionally evaluated by methods that inadvertently sample the skin microbiome and/or miss microbiota located in deeper HF regions. Thereby, these methods capture the human HF microbiome in a skewed and incomplete manner. This pilot study aimed to use laser-capture microdissection of human scalp HFs, coupled with 16S rRNA gene sequencing to sample the HF microbiome and overcome these methodological limitations.
HFs were laser-capture microdissected (LCM) into three anatomically distinct regions. All main known core HF bacterial colonisers, including Cutibacterium, Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus, were identified, in all three HF regions. Interestingly, region-specific variations in α-diversity and microbial abundance of the core microbiome genera and Reyranella were identified, suggestive of variations in microbiologically relevant microenvironment characteristics. This pilot study therefore shows that LCM-coupled with metagenomics is a powerful tool for analysing the microbiome of defined biological niches. Refining and complementing this method with broader metagenomic techniques will facilitate the mapping of dysbiotic events associated with HF diseases and targeted therapeutic interventions.
人类毛囊（HFs）中栖息着丰富多样的微生物群落，传统的评估方法会无意中采样皮肤微生物组和/或错过位于更深 HF 区域的微生物群。因此，这些方法以一种有偏差且不完整的方式捕获了人类 HF 微生物组。本初步研究旨在使用激光捕获微切割人头皮 HFs，结合 16S rRNA 基因测序来采样 HF 微生物组，以克服这些方法学限制。
将 HFs 激光捕获微切割（LCM）成三个解剖上不同的区域。在所有三个 HF 区域均鉴定出所有主要已知的核心 HF 细菌定植菌，包括表皮葡萄球菌、棒状杆菌属和葡萄球菌属。有趣的是，核心微生物属和雷耶拉菌的 α-多样性和微生物丰度的区域特异性变化被识别出来，提示微生物相关微环境特征存在差异。因此，本初步研究表明，LCM 与宏基因组学相结合是分析特定生物生态位微生物组的有力工具。通过更广泛的宏基因组学技术对该方法进行改进和补充，将有助于绘制与 HF 疾病相关的失调事件和靶向治疗干预。
