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A metabolic switch for pimples and blackheads?

10.12.2020

Translation: Veronica Bielawski

Acne can have many causes. Because of this, treating this common skin complaint is rather complicated. But there’s a protein that may help prevent these skin impurities.

Acne is one of the most common skin diseases (link in German). It occurs mainly in adolescence and is usually harmless. Pimples, blackheads and whiteheads form on the skin of those affected because the sebaceous glands no longer drain skin secretions, become clogged and, eventually, inflamed. The increased sebum production and the often accompanying keratin production have different causes and can therefore be treated with different methods, if necessary. Researchers claim to have found an interesting common feature in the cellular processes that trigger acne: a certain protein that has a key regulatory function is produced less frequently in acne-ridden skin than in healthy skin. It’s a possible starting point for treatments to slow down the disease.

In the scientific journal «Nature Communications», scientists working with Fiona Watt at King's College London examined the protein GATA6 (GATA-binding protein 6), which is secreted in the upper sections of the sebaceous glands. A comparison of skin samples from nine acne patients and five healthy individuals suggested that the protein is produced in significantly lower quantities in people with varying forms and degrees of severity of acne. The scientists carried out cell culture experiments to examine the role of GATA6 in detail. The regulatory protein appears to control several cellular metabolic processes in the cells of the hair follicle and the sebaceous gland. Among other things, it slows down the formation and maturation of cells in keratinocytes, the cell type which may promote cornification in acne. In addition, the protein intervenes in a cellular signalling pathway which slows down the formation of blackheads. Blackheads are the bumps on the skin typical of acne, caused by an excess of sebum, keratin and bacteria in the skin glands.

It was also noticeable that GATA6 production increases when the cells are treated with retinoic acid. Retinoids, which can be synthetically produced from vitamin A, are established active ingredients (link in German) used to treat acne. They’re applied to the skin, for example in the form of a cream. Retinoids bind to receptors in the cell nucleus of skin cells and change the gene expression, though it’s not yet known exactly which processes are changed by this. The researchers working with Watt hope that in the future, new acne treatments could perhaps target GATA6 directly to counteract the changes in the skin.

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Originally published on Spektrum.de (in German)

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