Immune Netw.  2018 Apr;18(2):e9. 10.4110/in.2018.18.e9.

Optimization of Cytokine Milieu to Reproduce Atopic Dermatitis-related Gene Expression in HaCaT Keratinocyte Cell Line

• Kim HJ
• Baek J
• Lee JR
• Roh JY
• Jung Y

• KMID: 2410159
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4110/in.2018.18.e9

Abstract

Although atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by cytokine production predominantly mediated by T helper (Th) 2 cells, AD pathogenesis also involves innate immune and Th1 cells. To optimize the cytokine milieu required for accurate reproduction of AD-related gene expression profile in vitro, we evaluated the expression pattern of CCL22, CCL17, IL5, IL13, IL33, IL25, TSLP, FLG, and LOR in human lesional AD skin and cytokine-stimulated HaCaT cells. An increase in Th2 mediators (IL5, IL13, CCL22, CCL17, IL25, IL33, and TSLP) and a decrease in genes related to cornified cell envelope (filaggrin and loricrin) were observed in human AD lesions. Innate (tumor necrosis factor-α) and/or Th1/Th2 adaptive cytokines (interferon-γ/IL-4) were required for inducing these inflammatory changes in HaCaT cells, implying that a complex network of innate, Th1, and Th2 cytokines drives AD-like changes. Therefore, stimulation with various combinations of cytokines, beyond Th2 polarization, is necessary when HaCaT cell line is used to study genetic changes implicated in AD pathogenesis.

Keyword

Atopic dermatitis; Cytokine; In vitro stimulation

MeSH Terms

Cell Line*
Cytokines
Dermatitis, Atopic
Gene Expression*
Humans
In Vitro Techniques
Interleukin-13
Interleukin-33
Interleukin-5
Keratinocytes*
Necrosis
Reproduction
Skin
Th1 Cells
Transcriptome
Cytokines
Interleukin-13
Interleukin-33
Interleukin-5

Figure

• 

  Figure 1. Assessment of HaCaT cell viability following their stimulation with various combinations of Th1 (IFN-γ, 10 ng/ml or TNF-α, 10 ng/ml) and Th2 (IL-4, 50 ng/ml) cytokines for 24 hours. (A) Evaluation of the morphological changes in cytokine-stimulated HaCaT cells using phase-contrast microscopy. Original magnification ×20. (B) The effects of cytokine stimulation on the growth of HaCaT cells were measured using a water-soluble tetrazolium salt assay and the cell viability was determined by measuring the absorbance at 450 nm wavelength. Graphs show the mean±standard error of the mean. *** p<0.001 (Student's t-test).

• 

  Figure 2. Correlation between AD-related gene expression in lesional skin and that observed in cytokine-stimulated HaCaT cells. HaCaT cells were cultured in the presence of IFN-γ (10 ng/ml), TNF-α (10 ng/ml), and/or IL-4 (50 ng/ml) for 24 hours. The expression of CCL22 (encoding macrophage-derived chemokine), CCL17 (encoding thymus and activation-regulated chemokine), IL5, IL13, FLG (filaggrin), LOR (loricrin), IL33, IL25, and TSLP was evaluated by real-time PCR as a fold change normalized to the expression of GAPDH in skin samples from AD patients (left) and cytokine-stimulated HaCaT cells (right). mRNA expression of each gene in cytokine-stimulated HaCaT cells was compared with non-stimulated control. Graphs show the mean±standard error of the mean. MDC, macrophage-derived chemokine. * p<0.05, ** p<0.01, *** p<0.001 (Student's t-test).

Reference

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