The cost of publication in Journal of Biomedical Science is borne by the National Science Council, Taiwan.
Research
Topical application of marine briarane-type diterpenes effectively inhibits 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced inflammation and dermatitis in murine skin
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* Corresponding authors: Ning-Sun Yang nsyang@gate.sinica.edu.tw - Jyh-Horng Sheu sheu@mail.nsysu.edu.tw
1 Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
2 Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
3 Graduate Institute of Life Science, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan
4 Department of Life Science, National Central University, Taoyuan County, Taiwan
5 Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
6 Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Journal of Biomedical Science 2011, 18:94 doi:10.1186/1423-0127-18-94
Published: 21 December 2011Abstract
Background
Skin is the largest organ in the body, and is directly exposed to extrinsic assaults. As such, the skin plays a central role in host defense and the cutaneous immune system is able to elicit specific local inflammatory and systemic immune responses against harmful stimuli. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) can stimulate acute and chronic inflammation and tumor promotion in skin. TPA-induced dermatitis is thus a useful in vivo pharmacological platform for drug discovery. In this study, the inhibitory effect of briarane-type diterpenes (BrDs) from marine coral Briareum excavatum on TPA-induced dermatitis and dendritic cell (DC) function was explored.
Methods
Evans blue dye exudation was used to determine vascular permeability. H&E-stained skin section was used to determine the formation of edema in mouse abdominal skin. We also used immunohistochemistry staining and western blot assays to evaluate the activation of specific inflammation makers and key mediators of signaling pathway in the mouse skin. Furthermore, mouse bone marrow DCs were used to determine the relationship between the chemical structure of BrDs and their regulation of DC function.
Results
BrD1 remarkably suppressed TPA-induced vascular permeability and edema in skin. At the biochemical level, BrD1 inhibited TPA-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2, inducible nitric oxide synthase and matrix metalloproteinase-9, the key indicators of cutaneous inflammation. This inhibition was apparently mediated by interference with the Akt/NF-κB-mediated signaling network. BrD1 also inhibited TNF-α and IL-6 expression in LPS-stimulated BMDCs. The 8, 17-epoxide of BrDs played a crucial role in the inhibition of IL-6 expression, and replacement of the C-12 hydroxyl group with longer esters in BrDs gradually decreased this inhibitory activity.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that BrDs warrant further investigation as natural immunomodulatory agents for control of inflammatory skin diseases.