Tingting Cui

Impaired Activation of the Nrf2-ARE Signaling Pathway Undermines H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress Response: A Possible Mechanism for Melanocyte Degeneration in Vitiligo

Vitiligo melanocytes possess higher susceptibility to oxidative insults. Consistent with this, impairment of the antioxidant defense system has been reported to be involved in the onset and progression of vitiligo. Our previous study showed that the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2-antioxidant response element (Nrf2-ARE) pathway and its downstream antioxidant enzyme heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) are crucial for melanocytes to cope with H2O2-induced oxidative damage. Here, we sought to determine whether the diminished Nrf2-ARE activity that contributes to reduced downstream antioxidant enzymes and increased oxidative stress could be the reason why melanocytes are more vulnerable to vitiligo. We found that vitiligo melanocytes exhibited hypersensitivity to H2O2-induced oxidative injury because of reduced Nrf2 nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity, which led to decreased HO-1 expression and aberrant redox balance. Moreover, we also found that the level of serum HO-1 was significantly decreased and that of IL-2 was markedly increased in 113 vitiligo patients when compared with healthy controls. These data demonstrate that impaired activation of Nrf2 under oxidative stress could result in decreased expression of antioxidant enzymes and increased death of vitiligo melanocytes.

Nrf2 Promotes Keratinocyte Proliferation in Psoriasis through Up-Regulation of Keratin 6, Keratin 16, and Keratin 17

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by keratinocyte hyperproliferation of epidermis. Although hyperproliferation-associated keratins K6, K16, and K17 are considered to be the hallmarks of psoriasis, the molecular basis underlying the overexpression of these keratins remains unclear. Nrf2 regulates cell proliferation. Therefore, we investigated whether Nrf2 regulates keratinocyte proliferation via promoting expression of K6, K16, and K17 in psoriasis. We initially found that psoriatic epidermis exhibited elevated expression of Nrf2. Furthermore, Nrf2 promoted expression of K6, K16, and K17 in both HaCaT cells and primary human keratinocytes by binding to the ARE domains located in the promoter of these genes. Additionally, upon stimulation with IL-17 or IL-22, Nrf2 translocated to the nucleus and initiated expression of targeted keratins. In mice of imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like dermatitis, topical application of Nrf2 small interfering RNA alleviated the epidermal hyperplasia with reduced expression of these keratins. More importantly, Nrf2 promoted the proliferation of human keratinocytes through up-regulation of K6, K16, or K17. These data suggested that inflammatory cytokines promoted Nrf2 nuclear translocation in psoriatic epidermis, which led to elevated expression of K6, K16, and K17, thus promoting keratinocyte proliferation and contributing to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

Dysregulated autophagy increased melanocyte sensitivity to H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress in vitiligo

In vitiligo, melanocytes are particularly vulnerable to oxidative stress owing to the pro-oxidant state generated during melanin synthesis and to the genetic antioxidant defects. Autophagy is a controlled self-digestion process which can protect cells against oxidative damage. However, the exact role of autophagy in vitiligo melanocytes in response to oxidative stress and the mechanism involved are still not clear. To determine the implications of autophagy for melanocyte survival in response to oxidative stress, we first detected the autophagic flux in normal melanocytes exposure to H2O2, and found that autophagy was significantly enhanced in normal melanocytes, for protecting cells against H2O2-induced oxidative damage. Nevertheless, vitiligo melanocytes exhibited dysregulated autophagy and hypersensitivity to H2O2-induced oxidative injury. In addition, we confirmed that the impairment of Nrf2-p62 pathway is responsible for the defects of autophagy in vitiligo melanocytes. Noteworthily, upregulation of the Nrf2-p62 pathway or p62 reduced H2O2-induced oxidative damage of vitiligo melanocytes. Therefore, our data demonstrated that dysregulated autophagy owing to the impairment of Nrf2-p62 pathway increase the sensitivity of vitiligo melanocytes to oxidative stress, thus promote the development of vitiligo. Upregulation of p62-dependent autophagy may be applied to vitiligo treatment in the future.

Simvastatin Protects Human Melanocytes from H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress by Activating Nrf2

The prevention of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress has proved to be beneficial to vitiligo patients. Simvastatin possesses antioxidative capacity and has shown protective effect in various oxidative stress-related diseases. However, whether simvastatin can protect human melanocytes against oxidative stress has not been investigated. In this study, we initially found that pretreatment with 0.1 μmol/L to 1.0 μmol/L simvastatin led to increased cell viability and decreased cell apoptosis of melanocytes in response to H2O2. In addition, simvastatin was able to potentiate the activity of antioxidant enzymes and lessen intracellular reactive oxygen species accumulation. Furthermore, we found that simvastatin promoted the activation of nuclear erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2) and that knockdown of Nrf2 abolished the protective effect of simvastatin against H2O2-induced oxidative damage. More importantly, the mutual enhancement between mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways and p62 contributed to simvastatin-induced Nrf2 activation in melanocytes. Finally, simvastatin showed more antioxidative capacity and better protective effect than aspirin in H2O2-treated melanocytes. Taken together, our results show that simvastatin protects human melanocytes from H2O2-induced oxidative stress by activating Nrf2, thus supporting simvastatin as a potential therapeutic agent for vitiligo.

Identification of Novel HLA-A*0201-Restricted CTL Epitopes in Chinese Vitiligo Patients

Generalized vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by melanocyte loss, which results in patchy depigmentation of skin and hair. Recent studies suggested the key role of CD8+T lymphocytes for mediating immune response in vitiligo through melanocyte differentiation antigens, including tyrosinase, gp100 and MelanA/Mart-1. However, the specific epitopes of these auto-antigens are still unknown. In our study, we predicted the possible HLA-A*0201-restricted nonapeptides overlaying the full-length amino acid sequences of these three known antigens and investigated the lymphocytes reactivity to these nonapeptides by Elispot assay. In addition, we evaluated the abilities of these nonapeptides to activate CD8+T cells. We screened out 5 possible epitopes originated from tyrosinase and gp100, numbered P28, P41, P112, P118 and P119. Among these 5 epitopes, notably, P28 and P119 played the dominant role in activating CTLs, with a significant increase in proliferation rate and Interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production of CD8+T cells. Nevertheless, antigen-specific T cell reactivity was not detected in MelanA/Mart-1 peptides. Our studies identified two novel epitopes originated from proteins of gp100 and tyrosinase, which may have implications for the development of immunotherapies for vitiligo.

HO-1 regulates the function of Treg: Association with the immune intolerance in vitiligo

In vitiligo, cutaneous depigmentation is accompanied by increased T cell cytolytic activity targeting melanocytes, indicating that autoimmune tolerance is disrupted. The inhibited amount and function of Tregs have been indicated to be involved in the autoimmune intolerance in vitiligo, however, with the conclusion still controversial and the involved mechanism unknown. In this study, we explored the molecular and cellular alterations accounting for the impaired Treg response in vitiligo. Our results showed that the amount of Tregs was drastically reduced in peripheral blood of active vitiligo patients. Furthermore, the immunoregulatory function of Tregs was attenuated, with lower expression of CTLA4, IL‐10 and TGF‐β. Moreover, the expression of HO‐1, a functional modulator of Tregs, was decreased in vitiligo Tregs, and the concentrations of HO‐1 metabolites, including bilirubin, CoHb and iron, were correspondingly decreased in serum of vitiligo patients. In addition, we treated the Tregs from vitiligo patients with Hemin, an agonist of HO‐1, and found that enhanced HO‐1 expression restored the function of Tregs by up‐regulating IL‐10 expression. Our study demonstrates the essential role of HO‐1 in the impaired Treg response in vitiligo and indicates the potential of HO‐1 as a therapeutic target in vitiligo management.

Baicalein protects human vitiligo melanocytes from oxidative stress through activation of NF-E2-related factor2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway

&NA; Vitiligo is a complex disorder characterized by patchy loss of skin pigmentation due to abnormal melanocyte function. Overwhelming evidences have suggested that oxidative stress plays a major role in the loss of melanocytes thereby mediating the onset and progression of vitiligo. The nuclear factor erythroid 2‐like factor 2 (Nrf2) is a master regulator of cellular redox homeostasis and the activation of Nrf2 signaling pathway is impaired in the vitiligo melanocytes. Baicalein, as flavonoid extracted from the Scutellaria baicalensis, has been proved to possess the ability to activate Nrf2 signaling pathway in other cell types and mouse model. Our previous data found that baicalein exerts a cytoprotective role in H2O2‐induced apoptosis in human melanocytes cell line (PIG1). Based on these founding, we hypothesized that baicalein activates Nrf2 signaling pathway, alleviates H2O2‐induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular damage, thereby protecting human vitiligo melanocytes from oxidative stress. In the present study, we found that baicalein effectively inhibited H2O2‐induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in human vitiligo melanocytes (PIG3V). Further results demonstrated that baicalein promoted Nrf2 nucleus translocation as well as up‐regulated the expression of Nrf2 and its target gene, heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1). Moreover, the protective effects of baicalein against H2O2‐induced cellular damage and apoptosis as well as mitochondrial dysfunction were abolished by Nrf2 knockdown. Additionally, we observed that Nrf2 knockdown suppressed proliferation and increased the sensitivity of PIG3V cells to H2O2 treatment. Finally, we explored the mechanism of baicalein associated with Nrf2 activation and found that the phosphorylation of Nrf2 as well as ERK1/2and PI3K/AKT signaling were not involved in the baicalein‐induced activation of Nrf2. Taken together, these data clearly suggest that baicalein enhances cellular antioxidant defense capacity of human vitiligo melanocytes through the activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway, providing beneficial evidence for the application of baicalein in the vitiligo treatment. Graphical abstract Figure. No caption available. HighlightsBaicalein protects human vitiligo melanocytes against H2O2‐induced oxidative stress.The Nrf2/HO‐1pathway is positively activated by baicalein during oxidative stress.The protective effects of baicalein against oxidative stress are mediated by Nrf2.Nrf2 knockdown suppresses the proliferation of human vitiligo melanocytes.Nrf2 knockdown increases the sensitivity of human vitiligo melanocytes to H2O2.