Obiajulu Catherine, Nguyen Diem, Bui Kim Hoang Ngan, Tran Timothy, Vu Annamarie, Ngo Cortney, Slowinski Ian A, Miyazawa Kazuyuki, Slowinska Katarzyna
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, California State University Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 585 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.
Cosmetics. 2025 Jun;12(3). doi: 10.3390/cosmetics12030086. Epub 2025 Apr 23.
Electrical stimulation of the skin has proven effective in pain management and antibacterial treatment, particularly in wound healing and counteracting the aging processes. The latter processes rely on epidermal cell migration, increased fibroblast proliferation, and upregulation of extracellular matrix protein expression. While an electrical field stimulates these processes, it is unclear how the electrical signal results in transcriptional control. Here, we postulate that the activation of voltage-gated channels, specifically voltage-gated potassium channels Kv1.3, is implicated in initiating the downstream signaling pathways that lead to increased collagen expression. We postulate that Kv1.3 and possibly calcium-activated potassium channel activity leads to the engagement of store-operated calcium channels and modulates the intracellular calcium ions distribution. In turn, changes in intracellular calcium concentration can activate calcium-generated transcriptional effectors. The Kv1.3 channel, identified via fluorescence imaging with ShK toxin (peptide), shows high-level expression in the human dermal fibroblast cell membrane. We also performed proliferation, collagen expression, and calcium imaging studies for variable electrical fields to help understand the link between the electrical stimulation, Kv1.3 channels, intracellular calcium concentration, and protein expression.
皮肤电刺激已被证明在疼痛管理和抗菌治疗中有效，特别是在伤口愈合和对抗衰老过程方面。后一过程依赖于表皮细胞迁移、成纤维细胞增殖增加以及细胞外基质蛋白表达上调。虽然电场会刺激这些过程，但尚不清楚电信号如何导致转录控制。在这里，我们推测电压门控通道，特别是电压门控钾通道Kv1.3的激活，与启动导致胶原蛋白表达增加的下游信号通路有关。我们推测Kv1.3以及可能的钙激活钾通道活性会导致储存-操作性钙通道的参与，并调节细胞内钙离子分布。反过来，细胞内钙浓度的变化可以激活钙产生的转录效应器。通过使用ShK毒素（肽）进行荧光成像鉴定的Kv1.3通道，在人真皮成纤维细胞膜中显示出高水平表达。我们还对可变电场进行了增殖、胶原蛋白表达和钙成像研究，以帮助理解电刺激、Kv1.3通道、细胞内钙浓度和蛋白质表达之间的联系。
