title: Monocyte/macrophage androgen receptor suppresses cutaneous wound healing in mice by enhancing local TNF-alpha expression.
abstract: Cutaneous wounds heal more slowly in elderly males than in elderly females, suggesting a role for sex hormones in the healing process. Indeed, androgen/androgen receptor (AR) signaling has been shown to inhibit cutaneous wound healing. AR is expressed in several cell types in healing skin, including keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, and infiltrating macrophages, but the exact role of androgen/AR signaling in these different cell types remains unclear. To address this question, we generated and studied cutaneous wound healing in cell-specific AR knockout (ARKO) mice. General and myeloid-specific ARKO mice exhibited accelerated wound healing compared with WT mice, whereas keratinocyte- and fibroblast-specific ARKO mice did not. Importantly, the rate of wound healing in the general ARKO mice was dependent on AR and not serum androgen levels. Interestingly, although dispensable for wound closure, keratinocyte AR promoted re-epithelialization, while fibroblast AR suppressed it. Further analysis indicated that AR suppressed wound healing by enhancing the inflammatory response through a localized increase in TNF-alpha expression. Furthermore, AR enhanced local TNF-alpha expression via multiple mechanisms, including increasing the inflammatory monocyte population, enhancing monocyte chemotaxis by upregulating CCR2 expression, and enhancing TNF-alpha expression in macrophages. Finally, targeting AR by topical application of a compound (ASC-J9) that degrades AR protein resulted in accelerated healing, suggesting a potential new therapeutic approach that may lead to better treatment of wound healing.
authors.affiliation: George Whipple Lab for Cancer Research, Department of Pathology, Wilmot Cancer Center, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Jiann-Jyh
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Kuo-Pao
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: Kuang-Hsiang
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: I-Chen
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Wen-Jye
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Chawnshang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000368:Aged; D059002:Androgen Receptor Antagonists; D000818:Animals; D003474:Curcumin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008954:Models, Biological; D011944:Receptors, Androgen / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D059002:Androgen Receptor Antagonists; D003474:Curcumin; D011944:Receptors, Androgen; D013739:Testosterone; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C471106:ASC-J9 compound