Estudo do papel dos receptores purinérgicos P2X7 em processos inflamatórios cutâneos em modelos in vitro e in vivo

Abstract

The irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) is a non-allergic inflammatory reaction of the skin that occurs independently of the T cells participation. ICD is caused by exposure to low molecular weight chemicals and it is initiated by damage or activation of epidermal cells which trigger the activation of the innate immune system. The purine nucleotide adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the universal energy molecule and appears as is an important extracellular messenger. In healthy tissues, ATP is almost exclusively localized intracellularly, whereas in pathological conditions as inflammation, the tissue injury leads to the release of large amounts of ATP to the extracellular medium. In the extracellular medium, ATP can be hydrolyzed by nucleotidases to their breakdown products ADP and AMP. These nucleotidases control the availability of nucleotides for purinergic receptors. Currently, experimental observations indicate that extracellular ATP acting via purinergic receptors plays a relevant role on skin inflammation. Several models in vitro and in vivo had been used to study the mechanisms of ICD. However, this pathology is still poor understood. This study aimed to evaluate the involvement of the purinergic receptor P2X7 in ICD using in vivo and in vitro approaches. The croton oil (CrO) is a chemical irritant that has been shown to exert its effects independent of inflammatory T cells, therefore we used the mice model of irritant contact dermatitis induced by CrO to investigate the involvement of P2X7 receptor in the immunes mechanisms of ICD. We use several pharmacological approaches, in vitro and in vivo tests and mice with gene deletion to P2X7 receptor and showed evidences that the P2X7 receptor activation by ATP in macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) is connected with neutrophil recruitment induced by CrO. Furthermore, we demonstrated that CrO decreased the hydrolysis of ATP and ADP in the serum of mice and caused necrosis of keratinocytes in culture, both effects related to activation of P2X7. Taken together, the data obtained in this study suggested that CrO exerts its toxic effects by promoting keratinocytes necrosis and decreasing the activity of ectonucleotidades leading to an increase of ATP extracellular levels. Then, extracellular ATP promotes the P2X7 receptor activation in DCs and macrophages causing the release of IL-1β, which is partially responsible for the neutrophils recruitment observed in irritant contact dermatitis induced by croton oil. Noteworthy, the treatment with the selective P2X7 receptor antagonist A438079 decreased the edema and others proinflammatory effects induced by croton oil, pointing the P2X7 receptor as an important pharmacological target for the treatment of ICD.