Chronic stress causing disrupted expressions of cutaneous HPA axis elements.

A: POMC expression was analyzed by immunoblotting. β-Actin expression was indicated as a loading control. Western blot assay are representative of three experiments. Densitometric scanning of band intensities obtained from three separate experiments was used to quantify change of proteins expression. Three animals were used for each data point. Data are showed in mean ± SEM. B–K: The mRNA expression levels of POMC, UCN1, MC1R, MC2R, CRHR1, CRHR2, CYP11A1, Hsd11b1, Hsd11b2, and Nr3c1 in mouse skin. The expression levels of each gene were normalized against β-Actin then calculated as fold change using the comparative 2-ΔΔCT method. Data are showed in mean ± SEM, n = 8. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test. * P<0.05, ** P<0.01, compared with control.