Methylome and transcriptome analysis reveals the impact of psychological stress on the skin

Abstract

Psychological stress has been shown to impact skin and DNA methylome, but the mechanisms are poorly understood. Here, we collected multi-omics data from 60 stressed and 60 relaxed individuals to test the hypothesis that psychological stress may impact skin via epigenetic modification and downstream altered gene expression. Each volunteer completed a series of questionnaires and assessments to measure their psychological stress levels and skin condition. Suction blister samples were collected for analyze skin cytokines, DNA methylome, and transcriptome. The dataset generated allowed for the identification of 289 differentially methylated probes(DMPs) and 10 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Integration of methylation and expression data revealed seven functional epigenetic modules(P<0.05), which were involved in the glutamatergic synapse. In line with previous studies on the prefrontal cortex/hippocampus, we found that psychological stress also affects the glutamatergic synapse in the skin. There was no significant group difference in cytokines, while the stressed group had more severe skin darkening (P=7.36x10-6). This study provides important insight into the impact of psychological stress on the skin and contributes a comprehensive multi-omics dataset resource for the healthy epidermis.