FG-4592 Accelerates Cutaneous Wound Healing by Epidermal Stem Cell Activation via HIF-1α Stabilization

Background/Aims: Regional hypoxia promptly develops after trauma because of microvascular injury and increased oxygen consumption. This acute hypoxia plays a positive role in early skin wound healing. One of the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of acute hypoxia on wound healing may be increased hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1α) expression. HIF-1α may affect the wound-healing process through many aspects, including angiogenesis, metabolism, and extra-cellular matrix synthesis and remodelling. Epidermal stem cells (EpSCs) are important participants in wound repair; however, whether these cells are regulated by hypoxia is unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the regulatory mechanism by which hypoxia acts on EpSCs. Methods: CCK8 assays, western blots and live cell station observation were employed to compare the viability, proliferation and motility of EpSCs cultured under normoxic conditions (21% O 2 ) with those cultured under hypoxic conditions (2% O 2 ). Moreover, we used FG-4592 (a prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor that stabilizes HIF-1α in normoxia), KC7F2 (a selective inhibitor of HIF-1α transcription) and siRNA against HIF-1α to regulate HIF-1α expression. Results: Acute hypoxia caused EpSCs to switch from a quiescent state to an activated state with higher viability and motility, as well as an earlier proliferation peak. We demonstrated that the HIF-1 signalling pathway mediated hypoxia-induced activation of EpSCs. Finally, the in vivo experiments showed that exogenous FG-4592 effectively accelerates wound healing, shortens healing times and even induces epidermal hyperplasia. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that both hypoxia and exogenous FG-4592 improve EpSC proliferation and motility by stabilizing HIF-1α, and its results suggest that HIF-1α is an important target through which wound healing can be accelerated and that FG-4592 is a promising new drug for wound repair.