Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40361040›Full record

ArticleMolecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.)2025

Comprehensive single-cell transcriptomic reveals different destinies of melanocytes and dynamic changes of immune microenvironment in a psychological stress-induced leukoderma and leukotrichia mouse model.

Xuechen Cao, Yongkai Yu, Hang Yao, Yujie Zheng, Jiawei Lu, Yifei Feng, Tongxin Pei, Ziyu Li, Ming Lu, Yan Lu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular medicine (Cambridge, Mass.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Xuechen Cao *Department of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Yongkai Yu *Department of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Hang Yao *Department of Pharmacology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211166, China.
Yujie ZhengDepartment of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Jiawei LuDepartment of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Yifei FengDepartment of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Tongxin PeiDepartment of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Ziyu LiDepartment of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China.
Ming Lu *Department of Pharmacology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neurodegeneration, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 211166, China. lum@njmu.edu.cn.
Yan Lu *Department of Dermatology, Jiangsu Province Hospital and Nanjing Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210029, China. luyan1971@njmu.edu.cn.

Funding

Jiangsu Provincial Medical Key Discipline Cultivation Unit JSDW202228National Natural Science Foundation of China NSFC 82273549Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province SBK2022023090
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVitiligo is an acquired skin depigmentation disorder often accompanied by leukoderma and leukotrichia. Half of vitiligo patients experience episodes of stress.

methodsWe established a chronic unpredictable mild stimulation (CUMS) model in C57BL/6 J mice to simulate chronic mental stress-induced leukoderma and leukotrichia. Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed to determine the immune landscape and to characterize the relationship between immune-stromal cells. Immunohistochemistry was employed for validation.

resultsWe discovered a similar pro-inflammatory micro-environment composed of keratinocytes and fibroblasts similar to that in human vitiligo. Macrophages in CUMS mice expressed high levels of inflammatory factors and were inclined to an M1 pro-inflammatory phenotype. Two distinct clusters of melanocytes were also identified: Mel2, defined as melanocyte stem cells, and Mel3, defined as mature melanocytes. Mel2 cells were prone to pyroptosis and necroptosis, while Mel3 cells were susceptible to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and ferroptosis. Compared with control mice, higher expression of CXCL16 on dendritic cells and of the CXCL16 ligand, CXCR6, on γδT cells were observed in leukoderma. Dendritic cells and natural killer T cells in the CUMS mouse spleen exhibited elevated levels of CXCL16 and CXCR6, respectively. Activation of the CXCL16-CXCR6 axis and a non-specific immune response in our CUMS model might imitate chronic mental stress-induced vitiligo in humans better than CD8 + cytotoxic T lymphocyte-mediated models.

conclusionsWe discovered two melanocyte clusters with distinct fates and a pro-inflammatory micro-environment with CXCL16-CXCR6 axis activation of antigen-presenting cells and other innate immunocytes that might provide new insights into the pathogenesis of stress-induced vitiligo.

Indexed as

Cellular MicroenvironmentHypopigmentationMelanocytesStress, PsychologicalTranscriptomeVitiligoAnimalsDisease Models, AnimalHumansMacrophagesMaleMiceMice, Inbred C57BLSingle-Cell AnalysisChronic unpredictable mild stressCXCL16CXCR6Innate immunityMelanocyte stem cellsSingle-cell sequencing

Identifiers

PMID40361040
PMCPMC12076869

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.