Research Paper Volume 13, Issue 15 pp 19293—19305
Apremilast ameliorates IL-1α-induced dysfunction in epidermal stem cells
- 1 Department of Dermatology, The China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130033, China
Received: October 28, 2020 Accepted: February 9, 2021 Published: August 10, 2021
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203265How to Cite
Copyright: © 2021 Jia et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background and purpose: Skin tissue is the natural barrier that protects our body, the damage of which can be repaired by the epidermal stem cells (ESCs). However, external factors abolish the self-repair ability of ESCs by inducing oxidative stress and severe inflammation. Apremilast is a small molecular inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 that was approved for the treatment of psoriasis. In the present study, the protective property of Apremilast against IL-1α-induced dysfunction on epidermal stem cells, as well as the preliminary mechanism, will be investigated.
Methods: ESCs were isolated from neonatal mice. The expression levels of TNF-α, IL-8, IL-12, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were detected using real-time PCR and ELISA. MitoSOX Red assay was used to determine the level of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS). Western blot and real-time PCR were utilized to determine the expression levels of IL-1R1, Myd88, and TRAF6. Activation of NF-κB was assessed by measuring the p-NF-κB p65 and luciferase activity. Capacities of ESCs were evaluated by measuring the gene expressions of integrin β1 and Krt19 using real-time PCR.
Results: Firstly, the expression levels of TNF-α, IL-8, IL-12, MMP-2, MMP-9 and IL-1R1, as well as the ROS level, were significantly elevated by IL-1α but greatly suppressed by treatment with Apremilast. Subsequently, we found that the activated Myd88/TRAF6/NF-κB signaling pathway induced by stimulation with IL-1α was significantly inhibited by the introduction of Apremilast. As a result, Apremilast protected ESCs against IL-1α-induced impairment in capacities of ESCs, this was verified by the elevated expression levels of integrin β1 and Krt19.
Conclusions: Apremilast might ameliorate IL-1α-induced dysfunction in ESCs by mitigating oxidative stress and inflammation through inhibiting the activation of the Myd88/TRAF6/NF-κB signaling pathway.