Teleost fish skin serves as the first line of defense against pathogens. The interaction between pathogen and host skin determines the infection outcome. However, the mechanism(s) that modulate infection remain largely unknown. A proper tissue culture model that is easier to handle but can quantitatively and qualitatively monitor infection progress may shed some lights. Here, we use striped catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) to establish an ex vivo skin explant tissue culture model to explore host pathogen interactions. The skin explant model resembles in vivo skin in tissue morphology, integrity, and immune functionality. Inoculation of aquatic pathogen Aeromonas hydrophila in this model induces epidermal exfoliation along with epithelial cell dissociation and inflammation. We conclude that this ex vivo skin explant model could serve as a teleost skin infection model for monitoring pathogenesis under various infection conditions. The model can also potentially be translated into a platform to study prevention and treatment of aquatic infection on the skin in aquaculture applications.

硬骨鱼皮是抵御病原体的第一道防线。病原体和宿主皮肤之间的相互作用决定了感染结果。然而，调节感染的机制在很大程度上仍然未知。一个更容易处理但可以定量和定性监测感染进展的适当的组织培养模型可能会有所启发。在这里，我们使用条纹鲶鱼 ( Pangasius hypophthalmus ) 建立离体皮肤外植体组织培养模型，以探索宿主病原体的相互作用。皮肤外植体模型在组织形态、完整性和免疫功能方面类似于体内皮肤。水生病原体嗜水气单胞菌的接种在该模型中，随着上皮细胞解离和炎症，诱导表皮脱落。我们得出结论，这种离体皮肤外植体模型可以作为硬骨皮肤感染模型，用于监测各种感染条件下的发病机制。该模型还可能转化为一个平台，用于研究水产养殖应用中皮肤水生感染的预防和治疗。