Study finds new way to treat skin diseases

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Cell death is an important physiological phenomenon in the life process of multicellular organisms. Based on different classification criteria, cell death can be divided into programmed and unprogrammed death. The former is the normal apoptosis of cells, which is inclined to "suicide", and the latter is necrosis, that is, passive casualty. It is well known that the tail of tadpoles will disappear on their own during the process of developing into frogs. The root cause of this phenomenon is the programmed cell death.

Programmed cell death is very important for biological growth and maintenance of normal activities. Many new cells are born in the human body every day, and many cells die at the same time, and the two are in a dynamic balance. If the dead cell does not die, it can lead to malignant growth of the cell, forming cancer.

In cancer cells, cellular "suicide" is usually inactive, so most cancer treatments work by inducing cells. Emory University researchers have discovered a mechanism of skin cell death that could lead to new treatments for skin problems such as alopecia, hives, and melanoma.

Gasdermins, porogens, are a group of protein types that mediate cell death for immunity against viruses and other pathogens. Gasdermins contain a cytotoxic N-terminal domain and a C-terminal inhibitory domain, which are linked by a flexible member.

After proteolysis of the link between these two domains, the intramolecular inhibitory effect of the cytotoxic domain is relieved, allowing the N-terminal domain to insert into the cell membrane and form a large oligomeric pore. When a cell becomes infected or becomes cancerous, gasdermin makes holes in its cell membrane, causing it to die naturally.

Bacteria like Group A Streptococcus (GAS), which is often considered a major cause of skin infections such as necrotizing fasciitis or "flesh-eating" disease, kill hundreds of thousands of people each year or have their limbs amputated. In the experiments, the researchers used human cells to grow skin infections in vitro, and also used a mouse model to study how the skin interacts with immune cells. It turned out that the protein gasdermin A prevents GAS from attacking by attracting more immune cells to the area.

In addition, gasdermin A may also play a key role in protecting against other pathogens. Currently, researchers are studying how to use the protein's cell-death-inducing properties to help better treat skin diseases such as hair loss, dermatitis, psoriasis, and keloids.