Paeoniflorin Resists H2O2-Induced Oxidative Stress in Melanocytes by JNK/Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway

Jinping Yuan; Yansong Lu; Hexiao Wang; Yuxin Feng; Shibin Jiang; Xing-Hua Gao; RuiQun Qi; Yan Wu; Hong-Duo Chen

doi:10.3389/fphar.2020.00536

Paeoniflorin Resists H₂O₂-Induced Oxidative Stress in Melanocytes by JNK/Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway

Front Pharmacol. 2020 Apr 28:11:536. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00536. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Jinping Yuan^{1

2}, Yansong Lu^{1

2}, Hexiao Wang^{1

2}, Yuxin Feng^{1

2}, Shibin Jiang^{1

2}, Xing-Hua Gao^{1

2}, RuiQun Qi^{1

2}, Yan Wu^{1

2}, Hong-Duo Chen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Immunodermatology, Ministry of Education, Department of Dermatology, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
² National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Immunodermatological Theranostics, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.

Abstract

Paeoniflorin (PF) possesses multiple biological functions including anti-oxidization. PF is the major bioactive ingredient of total glycosides of paeony (TGP), which could promote re-pigmentation of vitiligo. The study was sought to investigate the effects and potential signaling pathways of PF on hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced oxidative stress in melanocytes. The results showed that pretreatment with 50 µM PF significantly inhibited cell apoptosis, enhanced cell viability, and suppressed reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation by enhancing the productions of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT). Furthermore, PF activated c-Jun amino terminal kinase (JNK) and the nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) pathway to counteract H₂O₂-induced oxidative damage in PIG1 and PIG3V. Taken together, our study firstly demonstrates that PF resists H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in melanocytes probably by activating JNK/Nrf2/HO-1 signaling, suggesting a potential therapeutic application of PF on vitiligo.

Keywords: melanocytes; nuclear factor E2-related factor 2; oxidative stress; paeoniflorin; vitiligo.