Clusterin negatively regulates melanogenesis via the TGFβ receptor-Smad pathway

Abstract

Clusterin has been known as a biomarker of aging and is highly induced in stressed and senescent cells. In this study, RNA sequencing analysis showed transcripts for clusterin were highly expressed in UV irradiated fibroblasts. A considerable increase of clusterin was detected in the culture medium. We found that the clusterin associates with solar elastosis and is overexpressed in the acutely UV-irradiated skin. To investigate the effect of clusterin on melanogenesis, normal human melanocytes were treated with conditioned media of fibroblasts infected with clusterin-lentivirus or sh-clusterin. It was found that clusterin inhibits melanogenesis through MITF/tyrosinase downregulation via TGF-β signaling. The findings suggest that clusterin inhibits melanogenesis and that it plays a role in controlling UV-induced pigmentary changes.