Tape-Strip Proteomic Analysis of Female Melasma Skin Lesions in a Chinese Population

Melasma is a common, chronic, and recurring disorder of hyperpigmentation arising from hyperfunctional melanocytes that deposit excessive amounts of melanin in the epidermis and dermis. The pathophysiology of melasma remains unclear and the treatment is challenging. Proteomic Analysis may contribute to understand the pathogenesis of melasma.

In this study, transepidermal water loss(TWEL) was evaluated to assess skin barrier function. Melasma area and severity index score was used to measure the severity of melasma. Data independent acquisition mass spectrometry was used to perform a comparative analysis of protein expression in female skin samples(cheeks) from 8 healthy controls and 8 melasma subjects. The hospital anxiety and depression scale were used to assess the anxiety and depression levels of the melasma patients.

The results showed that the melasma patients had higher TEWL values than the controls (12.95 ± 2.44 versus 6.86 ± 2.19, p < 0.01). Quantitative proteomic analysis identified a total of 230 differentially expressed proteins, including 193 upregulated and 37 downregulated. Enrichment analysis of these proteins based on GO, KEGG databases and protein-protein interaction analysis revealed that functional cluster associated with skin barrier (which included ALB, ANXA5, HSPB1, IQGAP1, S100A7), immunity and inflammation (which included YWHAZ, YWHAE, HSPA5, CSNK2B), melanogenesis (which included ALDH1A1, YWHAH, NDRG2, PMEL, APOE), psychoneurosis (which included YWHAE,YWHAH, PFN1, C3) and hormone (which included ARPC2, HSC70 and HSP70).

Our non-invasive proteomics analysis of human epidermal proteins may guide future research on female melasma and help in the development of treatments for melasma.