Li Lei

Repair strategies predicated on controlled micro-injury are widely applied in dermatology; however, the distinct molecular cascades initiated by different injury modalities remain incompletely characterized. To systematically delineate and compare the acute transcriptomic landscapes of mouse skin following fire filiform needling (FFN), ablative fractional CO ₂ laser (AFCO ₂ L), and conventional filiform needling (FN), we performed high-throughput RNA sequencing on dorsal skin samples harvested from C57BL/6J mice one day after treatment with FFN (combining thermal and mechanical stimuli), AFCO ₂ L (purely thermal), or FN (purely mechanical). All three interventions disrupted skin barrier integrity and activated canonical injury and repair transcriptional programs. Notably, the two modalities involving thermal stimulation (FFN and AFCO ₂ L) elicited a more robust and expansive transcriptomic response than purely mechanical FN, including immune activation, cell proliferation, differentiation, cell migration, metabolic reprogramming, and neurovascular remodeling. Although FFN and AFCO ₂ L exhibited broadly convergent transcriptional signatures, key distinctions emerged: FFN was preferentially associated with tissue remodeling, vascular processes, and neural regulation, whereas AFCO ₂ L displayed stronger enrichment for immune activation and cell migration. This study provides a comprehensive transcriptomic atlas of acute skin responses to distinct micro-injury modalities and underscores the potent role of thermal stimulation in amplifying dermal repair and remodeling. Our findings establish a systematic framework for understanding the mechanistic underpinnings of micro-injury therapies and for refining their clinical application.

Dendrobium officinale Kimura & Migo polysaccharide (DOP) is one of the main bioactive components of traditional Chinese medicine. Although DOP can encourage the growth of blood vessels surrounding hair follicles, it is unknown if it can ameliorate skin photoaging by stimulating angiogenesis. This study used publicly available data sets. Analysis of GSE38308 and GSE274955 data sets showed impaired angiogenesis in photoaged skin. In the ultraviolet (UV) radiation-induced photoaging model of Kunming mice, local DOP administration was found to enhance skin elasticity, increase collagen levels, promote angiogenesis, and demonstrate therapeutic potential for ameliorating photoaging in mice. In the UVB-induced photoaging model of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC), UVB radiation induced cellular senescence and reduced the tube-forming capacity of HUVECs, whereas DOP treatment was found to enhance angiogenesis by activating the kinase insert domain receptor (KDR)/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, thereby ameliorating photoaging. These findings provide a novel mechanism for the amelioration of skin photoaging by DOP, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic agent for treating skin photoaging.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is an effective treatment for actinic keratosis (AK) and uses different light sources as well as photosensitizers. In addition, PDT is often combined with other physical therapies or drugs. Objectives: This study was aimed to compare the efficacy of different PDTs against AK lesions based on Complete Response (CR) by conducting a network meta-analysis (NMA). Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using PDT for AK were screened and a Bayesian model was developed to perform an NMA of CR at 3 months after the first treatment. Results: Twenty-six trials involving 2285 patients and 14 treatments were included. The treatments were broadly divided into mono-PDT and combination therapy. The photodynamic monotherapies included methyl 5-aminolevulinic acid (MAL)-daylight (DL)-PDT, MAL-light-emitting diode (LED)-PDT, 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA)-LED-PDT, etc. Combination therapies included ablative fractional laser (AFL)-assisted MAL-LED-PDT, calcipotriol (CAL)-assisted MAL-LED-PDT, and 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu)-assisted MAL-DL-PDT. The results of the NMA showed that there is a high probability that AFL-MAL-LED-PDT is the most effective treatment option, followed by CAL-MAL-LED-PDT and ALA-LED-PDT. The subgroup analysis showed that MAL-based PDT had better efficacy when using LED versus other light sources, while LED-based PDT was likely to have better efficacy when using ALA versus other photosensitizers. Conclusions: The results of this NMA suggest that AFL-MAL-LED-PDT may be the superior choice for achieving complete clearance of AK lesions. PDT using LED as the light source and ALA as the photosensitizer may be more effective for the treatment of AK. However, more RCTs are needed to verify the results of this analysis.

In China, there is a lack of data regarding the awareness and treatment preferences among patients with vitiligo and their families. To address this gap, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted to investigate disease awareness and treatment preferences in Chinese patients with vitiligo. The study also evaluated willingness to pay, using 2 standardized items, and assessed quality of life, using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) score. Data from 307 patients with vitiligo (59.3% women, mean age 28.98 years, range 2–73 years) were analysed. Of these patients, 44.7% had insufficient knowledge of vitiligo, particularly those from rural areas or with low levels of education. Mean DLQI total score was 4.86 (5.24 for women and 4.30 for men). Among the most accepted treatments were topical drugs, phototherapy, and systemic therapy. Patients were relatively conservative about the duration and cost of treatment, with only 27.7% willing to pay more than 10,000 Chinese yuan renminbi (CNY) for complete disease remission. High level of education, high income, skin lesions in specific areas, and skin transplantation therapy predicted higher willingness to pay. Insufficient knowledge was associated with a higher burden of disease. In order to reduce the disease burden and improve treatment adherence it is crucial to enhance disease awareness and take into account patient preferences.

Background: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a highly effective treatment for actinic keratosis (AK), and uses different light sources as well as photosensitizers. In addition, PDT is often combined with other physical therapies or drugs. A network meta-analysis (NMA) allows for comparison between treatments not directly compared in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). This study’s objective was to compare the efficacy of different PDTs against AK lesions based on complete response rate (CR) by conducting a NMA. Methods: The RCTs on the treatment of AK using PDT were screened, and a Bayesian model was developed using GeMTC 0.14.3 software to perform a NMA. The subgroups demarcated on the basis of the light sources and photosensitizers were also compared. RevMan 5.4.0 software was used to compare the outcome measure of different light sources in terms of relative risk ratio (RR) and a 95% confidence interval (CI). The therapeutic effects of different photosensitizers were compared using R 4.2.1 software and gemtc package version 1.0-1. The quality of the included literature was evaluated using the risk of bias assessment tool in RevMan 5.4.0, and the network plots between studies were drawn using STATA 16.0 software. Results: Twenty-six trials involving 2285 patients and 14 treatments were included in the NMA. The results of the NMA showed that ablative fractional laser (AFL)-assisted methyl 5-aminolevulinic acid (MAL)-light-emitting diode (LED)-PDT had the best possible efficacy (Rank 1=0.56), followed by calcipotriol (CAL)-assisted MAL-LED-PDT (Rank 1=0.34) and 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-LED-PDT (Rank 1=0.05). The subgroup analysis showed that MAL-based PDT had better efficacy when using LED versus other light sources (RR：1.05，95% CI：1.03-1.07), and LED-based PDT resulted in the best possible efficacy when using ALA (Rank 1=0.47) versus other photosensitizers. Conclusions: AFL combined with MAL-LED-PDT is most likely the best treatment option for AK. In case of monotherapies, PDT based on LED light source and ALA photosensitizer is a suitable choice.

BACKGROUND Melanin plays an essential role in determining human skin color. Melanogenesis is a process in which tyrosine is catalyzed by a variety of enzymes to form melanin granules. Dysfunction in melanogenesis leads to skin diseases including abnormal skin pigmentation – melasma, and vitiligo among others. The research progress of melanogenesis affects the development of skincare products. Hence, the research field of melanogenesis has become a hotspot in dermatology in the past decade. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to set up a bibliometric analysis of melanogenesis research in the latest 10 years. METHODS We downloaded the articles from the Web of Science Core Collection, using the subject term "melanogenesis", with a timespan starting from 2012 to 2022. The “bibliometrix” package of R, “Citespace” and “VOSviewer” software were used to perform content and bibliometric mapping analysis in melanogenesis research. RESULTS After refining, 2930 articles were retained. The distribution of annual publications showed an increased tendency. The geographical distribution revealed that scientific productions in Asia got ahead of Europe, North America and other areas in the field. The USA has cooperated most with other countries. The Seoul Natl University was the most productive organization. 70 % of melanogenesis-related papers were published in journals with impact factor (IF) 0-4, 27% within IF 5-9 and 3% in journals with IF above 10. The main research contents probe into ultraviolet radiation, mechanism, medicines and therapy, genes, melanosome development, microenvironment, signal pathways, inflammation factors, and skin whitening from 830 high-frequency keywords. The number of research themes increased over years. Early studies focused on melanogenesis inhibitors or tyrosinase activity and symptoms of melanogenesis disorders. However, in recent years, miRNA, RNA seq, microenvironment, aging, immunity and other aspects have been continuously studied. CONCLUSIONS The research field of melanogenesis is in a booming stage. As the quality of published articles increases, the diversity of research topics is increasing. CLINICALTRIAL None

Competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs), including long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), circular RNA (circRNA), pseudogenes, synthetic miRNA inhibitors, etc. are classes of RNAs that can compete and interact with each other within an organism. There are regions in these RNAs that can be bound by messenger-RNA-interfering complementary RNA (microRNA), called microRNA response elements (MREs). These RNAs compete with each other to combine complementary microRNAs and MREs to form ceRNA regulatory mechanisms and participate in the regulation of many biological processes. The oxidative stress injury of melanocytes is one of the crucial mechanisms of vitiligo. However, it is unclear whether the ceRNA regulation mechanism is involved in the oxidative stress injury of melanocytes. The purpose of this study is to explore the changes of messenger RNA (mRNA), lncRNAs, and circRNAs in melanocytes under oxidative stress and to identify the key ceRNA regulatory networks. Compared with the normal cells, the chip detection of ceRNA expression profile showed that the expression of 491 mRNAs, 865 lncRNAs, and 1161 circRNAs were altered more than fivefold during the oxidative stress injury of melanocytes. The oxidative stress-related genes ( SOD2 , PTGS2 , DHFR , HMOX1 , FOSL1 , and PARP1 ), cell cycle-related genes ( CDK1 , CCNB1 , CCNA2 , OIP5 , and MK167 ), and apoptosis-related gene ( BIRC5 ) were identified in the formation of ceRNA regulation networks with lncRNAs and circRNAs, which shares the common MREs. Further verification found that LNCV6_120941_PI430048170 or hsa_circ_0048910 might regulate the expression of SOD2 by sponging hsa-miR-4755-3p, LNCV6_119109_PI430048170, or hsa_circ_0048909 might regulate the expression of HMOX1 by sponging hsa-miR-6721-5p in the oxidative stress injury of melanocytes. In conclusion, complex changes of the ceRNA regulatory network in the oxidative stress response of melanocytes are evident. Oxidative stress may mediate melanocyte injury through the ceRNA regulation mechanism and induce the pathogenesis of vitiligo.

The skin is the main barrier between the human body and the outside world, which not only plays the role of a physical barrier but also functions as the first line of defence of immunology. Langerhans cells (LCs), as dendritic cells (DC) that play an important role in the immune system, are mainly distributed in the epidermis. This review focuses on the role of these epidermal LCs in regulating skin threats (such as microorganisms, ultraviolet radiation and allergens), especially psoriasis. Since human and mouse skin DC subsets share common ontogenetic characteristics, we can further explore the role of LCs in psoriatic inflammation.

Psoriasis is a common immune-mediated, chronic inflammatory genetic-related disease that affects patients’ quality of life. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) are a heterogeneous population of progenitor and immature myeloid cells which are expanded in psoriatic skin lesions and peripheral blood. However, the role of MDSCs in the pathogenesis of psoriasis remains unclear. Here, we confirmed that the accumulation of human MDSCs is remarkably increased in skin lesions of psoriasis patients by flow cytometry. Depleting MDSCs by Gemcitabine significantly suppresses IMQ-induced psoriatic inflammation and epidermal thickening as well as Th17 and Treg cell accumulation. Moreover, through the RNA-Seq technique, we validated some differentially expressed genes on CD4⁺ T-cells of IMQ-induced-MDSC-depleted mice such as IL-21 and Timd2, which are involved in Th17-cell differentiation or T-cell activation. Interestingly, neutralizing IL-21R by antibody reduces IMQ-induced epidermal thickening through downregulating the infiltration of MDSCs and Th17 cells. Our data suggest that targeting myeloid-derived suppressor cells is a novel strategy for antipsoriasis therapy. IL-21 may be a potential therapeutic target in psoriasis.