Fig. 1

Knockout or ablation of TRPV1⁺ neurons can reduce the S. aureus burden in the infected area and reduces the rate of skin breakdown. a Isolated DRG from WT and TRPV1^−/− mice were stained with DAPI (blue), TRPV1 (green); the proportion of TRPV1-positive regions in DRG of different groups of mice was analyzed (n = 3/group); Scale bars, 100 μm; unpaired t test. b Number of spontaneous eye wipes per minute in TRPV1^−/− or WT mice after eye drops with capsaicin (n = 5/group); unpaired t test. c The skin of TRPV1^−/− or WT mice was infected with 1 × 10⁸ CFUs of S. aureus and subsequently tested for various indices. d Photograph of TRPV1^−/− and WT mice after 3 days of skin infection. e Bacterial load in skin tissue in TRPV1^−/− and WT mice after 3 days of infection (n = 5/group); unpaired t test. f Comparison of weight in TRPV1^−/− and WT mice after infection (n = 9/group); multiple unpaired t test. g Comparison of core body temperature in TRPV1^−/− and WT mice after infection (n = 9/group); multiple unpaired t test. h Comparison of spleen weight in TRPV1^−/− and WT mice after infection (n = 5/group); multiple unpaired t test. i Skin breakout survival curves for TRPV1^−/− or WT mice (n = 9/group); log-rank (Mantel‒Cox) test. j Pretreatment of 4-week-old WT mice with RTX or PBS and skin infection 28 days later, followed by analysis of the indices. k Isolated DRG from WT and RTX-pretreated mice were stained with DAPI (blue), TRPV1 (green); the proportion of TRPV1-positive regions in DRG of different groups of mice was analyzed (n = 3/group); Scale bars, 100 μm; unpaired t test. l Typical photograph of the RTX and PBS groups after 3 days of skin infection. m Bacterial load in skin tissue after 3 days of infection in the RTX and PBS groups (n = 5/group); unpaired t test. n Skin breakdown survival curves in the RTX and PBS groups (n = 11/group); log-rank (Mantel‒Cox) test. Data were pooled from two or three independent experiments