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Updated: Sep 7, 2025

Direct Reprogramming of Mouse Fibroblasts into Melanocytes
Published on: August 27, 2021
Lipopolysaccharide reduces melanin synthesis in vitiligo melanocytes by regulating autophagy
Lijun Sun1,2, Jingying Sun2, Xueping Huo2
1Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Abstract:
Vitiligo is an autoimmune-related disease with a complex aetiology that involves innate immunity. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important parts of innate immunity and are related to a variety of autoimmune diseases, including vitiligo, through an unknown mechanism. In this study, we found that the TLR4 gene expression was increased in blood samples of patients with advanced stage vitiligo, and then, we evaluated the effect of TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on melanin synthesis in a vitiligo melanocyte cell line PIG3V and along with its mechanism. LPS suppressed melanin synthesis, downregulated the expression of melanin synthesis-related proteins and activated autophagy in vitiligo melanocytes. Inhibiting autophagy with 3-methyladenine or chloroquine blocked these effects. This suggests that LPS inhibits skin pigmentation by modulating autophagy, thus providing novel insights into the pathogenesis of vitiligo.
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