Inhibitory Effect of SFRP5 on Melanogenesis in Melanocytes and Its Mechanism

ZOU Daopei¹, CHEN Yangmei¹, PU Yihuan¹, GAO Tianwen², CHEN Jin^1
*

(¹Department of Dermatology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Meidical University, Chongqing 400010, China; ²Department of Dermatology, Xijing hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, China)

Abstract:

Secreted frizzled-related protein 5 is a member of the family of secreted frizzled-related proteins, which plays an important role in regulating tissue differentiation and development. However, its effect on the biological function of melanocytes remains unclear. In this study, SFRP5 adenovirus (Ad-SFRP5) was used to infect PIG1 melanocytes, dopa oxidation, NaOH lysis, qRT-PCR, and Western blot were used to analyze the effects of SFRP5 on melanin synthesis-related indicators. The effect of Ad-SFRP5 on the activity of various signaling pathways in PIG1 cells was analyzed using the luciferase reporter gene system. The results showed that SFRP5 inhibited the tyrosinase activity and melanin synthesis of melanocytes without affecting the proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle of PIG1 cells. Meanwhile, it downregulated the expression of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and its target protein by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. This study initially explore the in hibitory effect of SFRP5 on melanin synthesis in melanocytes by regulating the Wnt signaling pathway, and provide a new therapeutic target for the treatment of pigmented skin diseases.