Inhibition of Wnt signaling pathway suppresses radiation-induced dermal fibrosis.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Progressive fibrosis of the dermal tissues is a challenging complication of radiotherapy whose underlying mechanism is not fully understood, and there are few available treatments. The canonical Wnt/?-catenin signaling pathway plays an important role in fibrosis as well as in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We investigated whether inhibition of Wnt/?-catenin signaling with sLRP6E1E2, a molecule that binds to extracellular Wnt ligands, ameliorated radiation-induced fibrosis both in vitro and in vivo. Radiation with a single dose of 2 Gy not only facilitated fibrosis in cultured human dermal fibroblasts via activation of the Wnt/?-catenin pathway but also initiated EMT in cultured keratinocytes, developing collagen-producing mesenchymal cells. sLRP6E1E2-expressing adenovirus treatment exerted anti-fibrotic activity in irradiated cultured dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes. In a mouse model, a single fraction of 15 Gy was delivered to the dorsal skins of 36 mice randomized into three groups: those receiving PBS, those receiving control adenovirus, and those receiving decoy Wnt receptor-expressing adenovirus (dE1-k35/sLRP6E1E2). The mice were observed for 16 weeks, and excessive deposition of type I collagen was suppressed by sLRP6E1E2-expressing adenovirus treatment. These results demonstrate that the modulation of the Wnt/?-catenin pathway has the potential to decrease the severity of radiation-induced dermal fibrosis.
SUBMITTER: Lee DW
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7423922 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
ACCESS DATA