Triggering of a Dll4–Notch1 loop impairs wound healing in diabetes

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs) represent a major medical, social, and economic problem. Therapeutic options are restricted due to a poor understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms. The Notch pathway plays a pivotal role in cell differentiation, proliferation, and angiogenesis, processes that are profoundly disturbed in diabetic wounds. Notch signaling is activated upon interactions between membrane-bound Notch receptors (Notch 1–4) and ligands (Jagged 1–2 and Delta-like 1, 3, 4), resulting in cell-context-dependent outputs. Here, we report that Notch1 signaling is activated by hyperglycemia in diabetic skin and specifically impairs wound healing in diabetes. Local inhibition of Notch1 signaling in experimental wounds markedly improves healing exclusively in diabetic, but not in nondiabetic, animals. Mechanistically, high glucose levels activate a specific positive Delta-like 4 (Dll4)–Notch1 feedback loop. Using loss-of-function genetic approaches, we demonstrate that Notch1 inactivation in keratinocytes is sufficient to cancel the repressive effects of the Dll4–Notch1 loop on wound healing in diabetes, thus making Notch1 signaling an attractive locally therapeutic target for the treatment of DFUs.