Sophorolipid inhibits histamine-induced itch by decreasing PLC/IP3R signaling pathway activation and modulating TRPV1 activity

Abstract

Abstract Biosurfactants are attracting much interest due to their potential application as therapeutic agents in the medical field. Previous studies have demonstrated that biosurfactant such as sophorolipid (SL) exhibits immunomodulatory effects. In this paper, we found the potential of sophorolipid for inhibiting histamine-induced itch and preliminarily explored its molecular basis. First, behavioral tests indicated that SL could remit the histamine-induced scratching behaviors of mice. Second, SL could suppress the the calcium influx induced by histamine, HTMT and VUF8430 in HaCaT cells. RT-PCR analysis showed that the histamine-induced upregulation of mRNA levels of phospholipase Cγ1 (PLCγ1), 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), and protein kinase Cα (PKCα) could be inhibted by SL, suggesting that SL may impede the PLC-IP3R signaling pathway activated by histamine. In further tests, the capsaicin-induced calcium influx could also be inhibited by SL, and molecular docking analysis indicated the possible binding of SL with transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1). In summary, these results revealed that SL may inhibit histamine-induced itch by decreasing PLC/IP3R signaling pathway activation and modulating TRPV1 activity. This paper indicates that SL may be a useful treatment medicine for histamine-dependent itch.