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

Figure 4

Effect of FNT on the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway. (a) Dual immunostaining reveals the accumulation of β-catenin in the migrated DCT (+) melanocytes within each vitiligo lesion skin, as indicated by arrowheads and related quantifications. The yellow arrow represents DCT (+) β-catenin (−) n = 5, scale bar = 50 μm. (b) qRT-PCR analysis was performed on key factors of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and genes related to melanin synthesis in the blank group, inhibitor group, treatment group, and sham group. (c) The protein expressions of TRP1, TRP2, MITF, WNT3, β-catenin, and LEF1 in the tail skin were detected using western blot analysis and quantifications of the protein expressions. The statistical significance was represented as , , . Significantly different as indicated. ns no significant difference. There were five samples in each group for the qRT-PCR test.