The possible role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in vitiligo treatment.

Vitiligo is a common chronic skin disease which has an adverse impact on the patients' life. Its pathogenesis is complex, involving autoimmunity and oxidative stress (OS). Autoimmunity leads to the loss of epidermal melanocytes and the formation of the depigmented patches of the disease. Treatment of vitiligo should control the exaggerated immune response to arrest the progress of active disease, and then promote the melanocytes to re-pigmentation. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has been of recent interest in vitiligo. Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is downregulated in vitiligo. Upregulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling possibly control vitiligo autoimmune response by protecting melanocyte from OS damage, inhibiting CD8+ T cell effector cell differentiation and enhancing Treg. Wnt/β-catenin signaling plays a critical role in the melanocyte regeneration by driving the differentiation of melanocyte stem cells (McSCs) into melanocytes. Promoting Wnt/β-catenin signaling can not only arrest the progress of active disease of vitiligo, but also promote the re-pigmentation. Some of the main effective therapies for vitiligo are likely to work by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Agents that can enhance the effect of Wnt/β-catenin signaling may become potential candidates for the development of new drugs for vitiligo treatment.