Cigarettes, a skin killer! Cigarette smoke may cause ferroptosis in female skin

INTRODUCTION: Skin exposure to tobacco smoke is closely related to skin aging. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of regulated cell death driven by the accumulation of lipid peroxides to levels sufficient to trigger cell death. However, few studies have examined ferroptosis in skin-related diseases. METHODS: This study searched for differentially expressed genes by analyzing gene expression data downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus. Ferroptosis-related genes were obtained by analyzing the FerrDb database. We also investigated the regulatory mechanism of ferroptosis-related genes by enrichment analysis and constructing gene-miRNA and gene-transcription factor networks. RESULTS: Based on these analyses, exposure to cigarette smoke can cause ferroptosis in female skin. Ferroptosis-associated genes might be regulated by 17 miRNAs and 20 TFs. CONCLUSION: Finally, we found ferroptosis in the skin of women exposed to cigarette smoke, and the results provide an important theoretical basis for future research and anti-aging treatment of skin.