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Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by epidermal hyperproliferation, aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes, and dysregulated immune responses. WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) is a non-classical tumor suppressor gene that regulates multiple cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, and migration. This study aimed to explore the possible role of WWOX in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression of WWOX was increased in epidermal keratinocytes of both human psoriatic lesions and imiquimod-induced mice psoriatic model. Immortalized human epidermal keratinocytes were transduced with a recombinant adenovirus expressing microRNA specific for WWOX to downregulate its expression. Inflammatory responses were detected using Western blotting, real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In human epidermal keratinocytes, WWOX knockdown reduced nuclear factor-kappa B signaling and levels of proinflammatory cytokines induced by polyinosinic: polycytidylic acid [(poly(I:C)] in vitro. Furthermore, calcium chelator and protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors significantly reduced poly(I:C)-induced inflammatory reactions. WWOX plays a role in the inflammatory reaction of epidermal keratinocytes by regulating calcium and PKC signaling. Targeting WWOX could be a novel therapeutic approach for psoriasis in the future.

Oral mucositis (OM) is a debilitating adverse event in patients undergoing treatment for cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of a novel handheld photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) device on chemoradiation therapy (CRT)-induced OM in patients with head and neck cancer. Head and neck cancer patients undergoing CRT who developed moderate-to-severe OM during treatment were enrolled. After PBMT and at 2 and 4 weeks after PBMT, the mean value of OM grade decreased significantly from 2.63 to 2.13, 1.31, and 0.75, respectively (p < 0.05, p < 0.001, and p < 0.001). Moreover, we observed significant improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after PBMT compared to baseline through a validated questionnaire; EORTC QLQ-C30. In the present study, the use of this PBMT device in the management of CRT-induced OM in patients with head and neck cancer was generally well tolerated and resulted in the improvement of OM. However, evidence supporting its use remains lacking owing to limitations such as the small number of participants and lack of a control group. Therefore, further mechanistic studies and large-scale randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm the effectiveness of PBMT in the treatment of CRT-induced OM, as shown in our results.