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Activation of α7nAChR Promotes Diabetic Wound Healing by Suppressing AGE-Induced TNF-α Production

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Abstract

Diabetes frequently presents accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which might induce excessive TNF-α production from macrophages to cause impaired wound healing. Recent studies have shown that activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) on macrophages efficiently suppressed TNF-α synthesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the accumulation of AGEs in the wounds and determine whether PNU282987, an α7nAChR agonist, can improve wound repair by inhibiting AGE-mediated TNF-α production in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mouse model. Animals were assigned into four groups: wounded control group, wounded diabetic group, wounded diabetic group treated intraperitoneally with PNU282987, or wounded diabetic group treated intraperitoneally with vehicle. Compared with the non-diabetic control mice, the diabetic mice exhibited delayed wound healing that was characterized by elevated accumulation of AGEs, increased TNF-α level and macrophage infiltration, and decreased fibroblast number and collagen deposition at the late stage of repair. Besides, macrophages of diabetic wounds showed expression of α7nAChR. During late repair, PNU282987 treatment of diabetic mice significantly reduced the level of TNF-α, accelerated wound healing, and elevated fibroblast number and collagen deposition. To investigate the cellular mechanism of these observations, RAW 264.7 cells, a macrophage cell line, were incubated with AGEs in the presence or absence of PNU282987. TNF-α production from AGE-stimulated macrophages was significantly decreased by PNU282987 in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, PNU282987 significantly inhibited AGE-induced nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) activation and receptor for AGE (RAGE) expression. These results strongly suggest that activating α7nAChR can promote diabetic wound healing by suppressing AGE-induced TNF-α production, which may be closely associated with the blockage of NF-κB activation in macrophages.

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Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by grants from research funds for the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LQ13H150002) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81301640).

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Center of Basic Medical Experiment, School of Basic Medical Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Higher Education District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, 325035, People’s Republic of China

      Miao-Wu Dong & Ke-Zhi Lin

    2. Renji College, Wenzhou Medical University, Higher Education District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, 325035, People’s Republic of China

      Ming Li, Jie Chen & Tong-Tong Fu

    3. Department of Forensic Medicine, School of Basic Medical Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Higher Education District, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, 325035, People’s Republic of China

      Guang-Hua Ye, Jun-Ge Han, Xiang-Ping Feng, Xing-Biao Li, Lin-Sheng Yu & Yan-Yan Fan

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    Miao-Wu Dong and Ming Li contributed equally to this work.

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    Dong, MW., Li, M., Chen, J. et al. Activation of α7nAChR Promotes Diabetic Wound Healing by Suppressing AGE-Induced TNF-α Production. Inflammation 39, 687–699 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-015-0295-x

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