Regulating the Wnt/β-catenin Signaling Pathway Promotes Repigmentation in Vitiligo Using Fire Needle Therapy

Figure 1

Expression of Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway in skin lesions of vitiligo. (a) Mechanism diagram. In normal skin, keratinocytes and melanocytes stimulate the Wnt pathway, promoting differentiation and proliferation of melanocyte stem cells. This dynamic process ensures a continual turnover of epidermal melanocyte pools. In vitiligo lesions, oxidative stress diminishes Wnt pathway activity in both melanocytes and keratinocytes. This reduction may impede the differentiation and proliferation of melanocyte stem cells, consequently contributing to active depigmentation of the skin and rendering resistance to repigmentation strategies. (b) Scatter plot showing the expression level of Wnt signal path-related down-regulated genes in vitiligo skin, compared with that of normal skin. The expression values were obtained from the NCBI GEO (accession number: GSE75819). Fifteen biopsies were taken from normal skin and vitiligo skin. (c) Scatter plot showing the expression levels of down-regulated genes associated with the Wnt signalling pathway in vitiligo skin, compared with that of healthy skin, perilesional skin, or non-lesional skin. The expression values were acquired from the NCBI GEO (accession number: GSE65127). Ten samples of healthy skin and ten from patients with vitiligo were collected from lesional, peri-lesional and non-diseased skin. Gene ontology enrichment (d) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes enrichment (e), the red wireframe represents the pathway associated with the Wnt signal pathway. Data are mean ± SEM. , , , Significant differences are indicated. ns no significant difference.