Evidence of telomere attrition and a potential role for DNA damage in systemic sclerosis

BACKGROUND: To investigate the role of cell senescence in systemic sclerosis (SSc), we analyzed telomere shortening (TS) in SSc patients and the effect of targeting DNA damage in the bleomycin model of skin fibrosis. RESULTS: Telomere length (TL) in blood leukocytes of 174 SSc patients and 68 healthy controls was measured by Southern blot, and we found shorter age-standardized TL in SSc patients compared to healthy controls. TL was shorter in SSc patients with ILD compared to those without ILD and in anti-topoisomerase I positive compared to anti-centromere positive patients. To analyze the potential role of DNA damage in skin fibrosis, we evaluated the effects of the DNA protective GSE4 peptide in the bleomycin mouse model of scleroderma and the fibrotic response of cultured human dermal fibroblasts. Administration of GSE4-nanoparticles attenuated bleomycin-induced skin fibrosis as measured by Masson’s staining of collagen and reduced Acta2 and Ctgf mRNA expression, whereas transduction of dermal fibroblasts with a lentiviral GSE4 expression vector reduced COL1A1, ACTA2 and CTGF gene expression after stimulation with bleomycin or TGF-β, in parallel to a reduction of the phospho-histone H2A.X marker of DNA damage. CONCLUSIONS: SSc is associated with TS, particularly in patients with lung disease or anti-topoisomerase I antibodies. Administration of GSE4 peptide attenuated experimental skin fibrosis and reduced fibroblast expression of profibrotic factors, supporting a role for oxidative DNA damage in scleroderma. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12979-022-00263-2.