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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbes and Innate Immunity
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1551080
Human beta defensin-2 protect epithelial barrier during Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps
Provisionally accepted- 1Department of Otolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 2Laboratory for Reproductive Immunology, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Female Reproductive Endocrine Related Diseases, Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College, Shanghai, China
- 3Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology (MOE/NHC/CAMS), Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Objective: We investigated the effect of hBD-2 on nasal epithelial barrier function with Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in CRSwNP.Methods: The expression of hBD-2 was measured in nasal polyps (NPs) from CRSwNP. MRSA was treated with different concentrations of hBD-2 to assess the invasive ability. Primary human nasal epithelial cells (HNECs) cultured at the air-liquid interface (ALI) were preincubated with or without hBD-2 prior to MRSA infection. Cell viability, epithelial cell integrity, and tight junctions (TJs) expression were evaluated.Results: hBD-2 expression in the CRSwNP group was higher than in the control group. In addition, hBD-2 protein was negatively correlated with Lund-Mackay CT score and positively correlated with neutrophils levels in CRSwNP. The presence of hBD-2 significantly reduced the invasive ability of MRSA in HNECs. MRSA decreased epithelial cell integrity by diminishing occluding and zonula occludens (ZO)-1 protein expression. Furthermore, hBD-2 prevented MRSA-induced barrier disruption by increasing mucosal permeability and expression of occludin and ZO-1. Conclusion: Our results suggest that hBD-2 may partially attenuated the epithelial barrier disruption induced by MRSA, which suggested the protective effect of hBD-2 on S. aureus infection.
Keywords: Human beta defensin-2, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, epithelial barrier, Tight Junctions
Received: 24 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tian, Hsu, Sun, Shi, Hu, Wu, Zhao and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tengfei Tian, Department of Otolaryngology, Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, Shanghai Municipality, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.