Jasmonic Acid Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress with Different Outcome in Cultured Normal and Tumor Epidermal...

Area of Science:

• Cell Biology
• Plant Science
• Dermatology

Background:

• Plant hormones can impact human cells, inducing effects beyond cell death, such as stress on biosynthetic systems.
• Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is a cellular response to various stimuli, impacting protein homeostasis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the activation of ER stress by jasmonic acid (JA) in human skin cells.
• To differentiate the cellular responses of non-tumorigenic HaCaT cells and epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells to JA.

Main Methods:

• Treatment of HaCaT and A431 cells with 2 mM jasmonic acid (JA).
• Analysis of gene expression related to ER stress (GRP78, ATF4, CHOP).
• Assessment of ER and Golgi complex structure and synthetic processes.

Main Results:

• JA induced ER stress gene expression and Golgi complex hypertrophy in both cell lines.
• Distinct gene expression patterns were observed between HaCaT and A431 cells.
• Involucrin synthesis increased in A431 cells, indicating JA-induced differentiation in tumor cells but not in normal cells.

Conclusions:

• Jasmonic acid activates ER stress in both normal and cancerous human epidermal cells.
• The cellular consequences of JA-induced ER stress differ between non-tumorigenic and tumor cells.
• JA may selectively promote differentiation in epidermal carcinoma cells via ER stress pathways.