ARG2 has been reported to inhibit autophagy in vascular endothelial cells and keratinocytes. However, studies of its mechanism of action, its role in skin fibroblasts, and the possibility of promoting autophagy and inhibiting cellular senescence through ARG2 inhibition are lacking. We induced cellular senescence in dermal fibroblasts by using H2O2. H2O2-induced fibroblast senescence was inhibited upon ARG2 knockdown and promoted upon ARG2 overexpression. The microRNA miR-1299 suppressed ARG2 expression, thereby inhibiting fibroblast senescence, and miR-1299 inhibitors promoted dermal fibroblast senescence by upregulating ARG2. Using yeast two-hybrid assay, we found that ARG2 binds to ARL1. ARL1 knockdown inhibited autophagy and ARL1 overexpression promoted it. Resolvin D1 (RvD1) suppressed ARG2 expression and cellular senescence. These data indicate that ARG2 stimulates dermal fibroblast cell senescence by inhibiting autophagy after interacting with ARL1. In addition, RvD1 appears to promote autophagy and inhibit dermal fibroblast senescence by inhibiting ARG2 expression. Taken together, the miR-1299/ARG2/ARL1 axis emerges as a novel mechanism of the ARG2-induced inhibition of autophagy. Furthermore, these results indicate that miR-1299 and pro-resolving lipids, including RvD1, are likely involved in inhibiting cellular senescence by inducing autophagy.

Melanogenesis is the production of melanin from tyrosine by a series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions, in which tyrosinase and DOPA oxidase play key roles. The melanin content in the skin determines skin pigmentation. Abnormalities in skin pigmentation lead to various skin pigmentation disorders. Recent research has shown that the expression of EMP2 is much lower in melanoma than in normal melanocytes, but its role in melanogenesis has not yet been elucidated. Therefore, we investigated the role of EMP2 in the melanogenesis of MNT1 human melanoma cells. We examined TRP-1, TRP-2, and TYR expression levels during melanogenesis in MNT1 melanoma cells by gene silencing of EMP2. Western blot and RT-PCR results confirmed that the expression levels of TYR and TRP-2 were decreased when EMP2 expression was knocked down by EMP2 siRNA in MNT1 cells, and these changes were reversed when EMP2 was overexpressed. We verified the EMP2 gene was knocked out of the cell line (EMP2 CRISPR/Cas9) by using a CRISPR/Cas9 system and found that the expression levels of TRP-2 and TYR were significantly lower in the EMP2 CRISPR/Cas9 cell lines. Loss of EMP2 also reduced migration and invasion of MNT1 melanoma cells. In addition, the melanosome transfer from the melanocytes to keratinocytes in the EMP2 KO cells cocultured with keratinocytes was reduced compared to the cells in the control coculture group. In conclusion, these results suggest that EMP2 is involved in melanogenesis via the regulation of TRP-2 expression.

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