Presence and the roles of IL-9/Th9 axis in vitiligo.
Sushant KumarSoumitra MaratheBhavuk DhamijaUddhao ZambareRicha BilalaSanyogita WarangChitra NayakRahul PurwarPublished in: Pigment cell & melanoma research (2021)
Immune dysregulation is critical in vitiligo pathogenesis. Although the presence and roles of numerous CD4+ T-cell subsets have been described, the presence of Th9 cells and more importantly, roles of IL-9 on melanocyte functions are not explored yet. Here, we quantified the T helper cell subsets including Th9 cells in vitiligo patients by multicolor flowcytometry. There was an increased frequency of skin-homing (CLA+ ) and systemic (CLA- ) Th9 cells in vitiligo patients compared to healthy donors. However, there was no difference in Th9 cell frequency in vitiligo patients with early and chronic disease. There was negligible IL-9 receptor (IL-9R) expression on human primary melanocytes (HPMs); however, IFNγ upregulated IL-9R expression on HPMs. Functionally, IL-9/IL-9R signaling reduced the production of IFNγ-induced toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HPMs. There was no effect of IL-9 on expression of genes responsible for melanosome formation (MART1, TYRP1, and DCT), melanin synthesis (TYR), and melanocyte-inducing transcription factor (MITF) in HPMs. In conclusion, this study identifies the presence of Th9 cells in vitiligo and their roles in reducing the oxidative stress of melanocytes, which might be useful in designing effective therapeutics.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- oxidative stress
- end stage renal disease
- cell cycle arrest
- poor prognosis
- transcription factor
- reactive oxygen species
- newly diagnosed
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- ejection fraction
- dendritic cells
- chronic kidney disease
- peritoneal dialysis
- endothelial cells
- dna damage
- signaling pathway
- single cell
- genome wide
- cell death
- prognostic factors
- stem cells
- gene expression
- diabetic rats
- drug induced
- dna methylation
- heat stress
- kidney transplantation
- heat shock protein