Rosiglitazone ameliorates senescence-like phenotypes in a cellular photoaging model

•We investigate whether rosiglitazone pretreatment will counteract the photoaging process using a well-established cellular photoaging model.•Rosiglitazone, as a potent PPAR-γ activator, counteracts senescence-like phenotypes possibly by inhibiting the expression of matrix metalloproteinases and increasing the synthesis of catalase.•The concept of using rosiglitazone as photoprotection agents is novel, and the potential clinical ramifications for photoaging skin prevention and treatment are immense.

BackgroundRosiglitazone (RO), a second-generation thiazolidinedione used mainly in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, has been discovered to be a high-affinity ligand for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ). Several studies have revealed that PPAR-γ is also involved in the regulation of oxidative stress and chronic inflammation associated with aging process in vivo as well as with cellular senescence in vitro. We sought to investigate whether RO pretreatment will counteract the photoaging process using a well-established cellular photoaging model.MethodsMurine dermal fibroblasts (MDFs) were cultured in the absence or presence of RO for 48 h, followed by exposure to repeated UVB irradiation. The senescent phenotypes were evaluated including cell viability, senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) expression, cell morphology, ROS generation, cell cycle, production and degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM), and the potential mechanisms were discussed.ResultsPretreatment with RO (40 μM) significantly decreased the staining intensity and the percentage of SA-β-gal-positive cells and reserved the elongated cell shape compared with UVB group. The cells pretreated with RO also showed decreased UVB-induced degradation of type I collagen by decreasing MMPs expressions. In addition, we observed counteraction of cell-cycle arrest and repression of UVB-induced p53 and p21 in the presence of RO. We further confirmed a significant decrease in ROS accumulation accompanied by an increase in catalase in RO group.ConclusionsRO, a potent PPAR-γ activator, counteracts senescence-like phenotypes, including long-term growth arrest, flattened morphology, degradation of ECM and SA-β-gal-positive staining in MDFs by inhibiting the expression of MMPs and increasing the synthesis of catalase when administered to repeated UVB irradiation. The novel application of RO may lead to innovative and effective anti-photoaging therapies.