Ligand-activated PPARδ upregulates α-smooth muscle actin expression in human dermal fibroblasts: A potential role for PPARδ in wound healing

• Activation of PPARδ induces expression of α-SMA in part through TGF-β signaling.
• Activation of PPARδ regulated the induction of myofibroblast-related proteins.
• Activation of PPARδ promoted migration and contraction of the HDFs.

BackgroundThe phenotypic changes that accompany differentiation of resident fibroblasts into myofibroblasts are important aspects of the wound healing process. Recent studies showed that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) δ plays a critical role in wound healing.ObjectiveTo determine whether the nuclear receptor PPARδ can modulate the differentiation of human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) into myofibroblasts.MethodsThese studies were undertaken in primary HDFs using Western blot analyses, small interfering (si)RNA-mediated gene silencing, reporter gene assays, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), migration assays, collagen gel contraction assays, and real-time PCR.ResultsActivation of PPARδ by GW501516, a specific ligand of PPARδ, specifically upregulated the myofibroblast marker α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. This induction was significantly inhibited by the presence of siRNA against PPARδ, indicating that PPARδ is involved in myofibroblast transdifferentiation of HDFs. Ligand-activated PPARδ increased α-SMA promoter activity in a dual mode by directly binding a direct repeat-1 (DR1) site in the α-SMA promoter, and by inducing expression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, whose downstream effector Smad3 interacts with a Smad-binding element (SBE) in another region of the promoter. Mutations in these cis-elements totally abrogated transcriptional activation of the α-SMA gene by the PPARδ ligand; thus both sites represent novel types of PPARδ response elements. GW501516-activated PPARδ also increased the migration and contractile properties of HDFs, as demonstrated by Transwell and collagen lattice contraction assays, respectively. In addition, PPARδ-mediated upregulation of α-SMA was correlated with elevated expression of myofibroblast markers such as collagen I and fibronectin, with a concomitant reduction in expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin.ConclusionPPARδ plays pivotal roles in wound healing by promoting fibroblast-to-myofibroblast differentiation via TGF-β/Smad3 signaling.