Strain-Level Differences in Porphyrin Production and Regulation in Propionibacterium acnes Elucidate Disease Associations

ABSTRACT Propionibacterium acnes is an important skin commensal, but it is also considered a pathogenic factor in several diseases including acne vulgaris, the most common skin disease. While previous studies have revealed P. acnes strain-level differences in health and disease associations, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Recently, we demonstrated that vitamin B 12 supplementation increases P. acnes production of porphyrins, a group of proinflammatory metabolites important in acne development (D. Kang, B. Shi, M. C. Erfe, N. Craft, and H. Li, Sci. Transl. Med. 7:293ra103, 2015, doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aab2009). In this study, we compared the porphyrin production and regulation of multiple P. acnes strains. We revealed that acne-associated type IA-2 strains inherently produced significantly higher levels of porphyrins, which were further enhanced by vitamin B 12 supplementation. On the other hand, health-associated type II strains produced low levels of porphyrins and did not respond to vitamin B 12 . Using a small-molecule substrate and inhibitor, we demonstrated that porphyrin biosynthesis was modulated at the metabolic level. We identified a repressor gene ( deoR ) of porphyrin biosynthesis that was carried in all health-associated type II strains, but not in acne-associated type IA-2 strains. The expression of deoR suggests additional regulation of porphyrin production at the transcriptional level in health-associated strains. Our findings provide one potential molecular mechanism for the different contributions of P. acnes strains to skin health and disease and support the role of vitamin B 12 in acne pathogenesis. Our study emphasizes the importance of understanding the role of the commensal microbial community in health and disease at the strain level and suggests potential utility of health-associated P. acnes strains in acne treatment. IMPORTANCE Propionibacterium acnes is a dominant bacterium residing on skin, and it has been thought to play a causal role in several diseases including acne, a common skin disease affecting more than 80% of people worldwide. While specific strains of P. acnes have been associated with either disease or healthy skin, the mechanisms remain unclear. Recently, we showed that vitamin B 12 supplementation increased porphyrin production in P. acnes, leading to acne development (D. Kang, B. Shi, M. C. Erfe, N. Craft, and H. Li, Sci. Transl. Med. 7:293ra103, 2015, doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aab2009). Here, we reveal that the levels of porphyrin production and vitamin B 12 regulation are different between acne- and health-associated strains, suggesting a potential molecular mechanism for disease-associated strains in acne pathogenesis and for health-associated strains in skin health. This study highlights the importance of understanding the strain-level differences of the human microbiota in disease pathogenesis. Our findings also suggest the porphyrin biosynthesis pathway as a candidate drug target and use of health-associated strains as potential probiotics in novel acne therapeutics.