Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34511958›Full record

ArticleClinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology2021

Identification of the Role of Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway Through Integrated Analyses and in vivo Experiments in Vitiligo.

Si-Jia Zhao, Hong Jia, Xiu-Lian Xu, Wen-Bo Bu, Qian Zhang, Xi Chen, Juan Ji, Jian-Fang Sun

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 16 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Si-Jia ZhaoDepartment of Pathology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Hong JiaDepartment of Dermatology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Xiu-Lian XuDepartment of Pathology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Wen-Bo BuDepartment of Dermatologic Surgery, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Qian ZhangDepartment of Dermatologic Surgery, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Xi ChenDepartment of Medicine 3, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen Nuremberg, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany.
Juan JiDepartment of Dermatology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Jian-Fang SunDepartment of Pathology, Institute of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College · CNChinese Academy of Medical Sciences Dermatology Hospital · CNUniversitätsklinikum Erlangen · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeVitiligo is an acquired depigmentation skin disease, which affects an average of 1% of the world's population. The purpose of this study is to identify the key genes and pathways responsible for vitiligo and find new therapeutic targets.

methodsThe datasets GSE65127, GSE53146, and GSE75819 were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. R language was used to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between lesional skin of vitiligo and non-lesional skin. Next, the key pathways were obtained by Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were conducted by STRING database and Cytoscape software. Subsequently, module analysis was performed by Cytoscape. Among these results, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and melanogenesis pathway caught our attention. The expression level of β-catenin, microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) and tyrosinase (TYR) was detected by immunofluorescence in vitiligo lesions and healthy skin. Moreover, zebrafish was treated with XAV-939, an inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. After that, the area of melanin granules as a percentage of the head area was measured. The mRNA expression of

resultsA total of 2442 DEGs were identified, including 1068 upregulated and 1374 downregulated DEGs. The key pathways were identified by GO and KEGG analyses, such as "NOD-like receptor signaling pathway", "Wnt signaling pathway", "Melanogenesis", "mTOR signaling pathway", "PI3K-Akt signaling pathway", "Calcium signaling pathway" and "Rap1 signaling pathway". The immunofluorescence results showed that the level of β-catenin, MITF and TYR was significantly downregulated in vitiligo lesional skin. In zebrafish, the mean percentage area of melanin granules and the expression of

conclusionThe present study identified key genes and signaling pathways associated with the pathophysiology of vitiligo. Among them, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway played an essential role in pigmentation and could be a breakthrough point in vitiligo treatment.

Indexed as

calcium signalingmelanogenesisRap1vitiligoWnt/β-cateninzebrafish

Identifiers

PMID34511958
PMCPMC8423189
OpenAlexW3197989713

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.