ABSTRACT
Photoaged skin contains elastotic materials in the upper reticular dermis, a result of a commonly known as solar elastosis. It is known that the primary transcript of elastin undergoes extensive alternative splicing and that this results in the translation of multiple heterogeneous protein isoforms. In this study, we found that UV irradiation and heat treatment increased the levels of elastin transcript containing exon 26A and its encoded elastin isoform in the epidermis of human skin in vivo and in cultured human keratinocytes in vitro. We also found that the elastin transcript containing exon 26A was upregulated in photoaged forearm skin compared with intrinsically aged buttock skin in the same elderly individuals. We observed that topical retinoic acid treatment to human skin did not increase the expression of exon 26A mRNA, but that tropoelastin mRNA expression was increased by this treatment. These findings suggest that the production of the elastin isoform containing exon 26A peptide is increased by UV exposure and heat treatment in human skin in vivo and that it may play an important role in the development of solar elastosis in photoaged human skin.
Subject(s)
Elastin/genetics , Elastin/metabolism , Exons/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Skin/metabolism , Adult , Aged , Aging/metabolism , Alternative Splicing/genetics , Cells, Cultured , Female , Hot Temperature , Humans , Keratinocytes/drug effects , Keratinocytes/metabolism , Keratinocytes/radiation effects , Keratolytic Agents/pharmacology , Male , RNA, Messenger/genetics , Skin/drug effects , Skin/radiation effects , Skin Aging/physiology , Tretinoin/pharmacology , Tropoelastin/metabolism , Ultraviolet Rays , Up-Regulation/drug effects , Up-Regulation/radiation effectsABSTRACT
In addition to ultraviolet radiation, human skin is also exposed to infrared radiation (IR) from natural sunlight. IR typically increases the skin temperature. This study examined whether or not heat shock-induced ROS stimulates MMPs in keratinocyte HaCaT cells. In HaCaT cells, heat shock was found to increase the intracellular ROS levels, including hydrogen peroxide and superoxide. The heat shock treatment induced MMP-1 and MMP-9, but not MMP-2, at the mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, heat shock caused the rapid activation of the three distinct MAPKs, ERK, JNK, and p38 kinase. The heat shock-induced expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9 was significantly suppressed by a pretreatment with the antioxidant NAC or catalase. On the other hand, SOD inhibited heat shock-induced activity of MMP-9 induction, but not MMP-1. A pretreatment with NAC or catalase, but not SOD, attenuated the phosphorylation of ERK, JNK, and p38 kinase by heat shock. The potential sites of ROS generation by heat shock along with its role in the heat shock-induced expression of MMP-1 and MMP-9 were next analyzed. These results indicate that heat shock-induced ROS is promoted via NADPH oxidase, xanthine oxidase, and mitochondria. Indeed, the NADPH oxidase and xanthine oxidase activities were increased by heat shock. Overall, the ROS produced by heat shock may play an important role in the heat shock-induced activation of MAPKs, which can induce MMP-1 and-9 expressions.
