Folia Biologica
Journal of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Charles University 

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Fol. Biol. 2006, 52, 10-15

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2006052010010

Glycophenotype of Psoriatic Skin

L. Lacina1,2,3, Z. Plzáková1,3, Karel Smetana, Jr.1,3, J. Štork2, H. Kaltner4, S. André4

1Centre of Cell Therapy and Tissue Repair, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
2Department of Dermatovenerology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
3Institute of Anatomy, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
4Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany

Received April 2006
Accepted May 2006

Psoriasis is considered an auto-immune disease with consequential keratinocyte hyperproliferation resulting in specific architecture of psoriatic skin. This process is associated with phenotypical keratinocyte changes including an altered carbohydrate expression pattern studied by labelled plant lectins. Expression of endogenous lectins and their reactive glycoligands are differentiation-dependent in squamous epithelia including epidermis. However, no data are available on psoriatic skin, although this disease represents an important medical problem. We investigated the expression of galectin-1, -3, -7 and the presence of their glycoligands in the psoriatic skin and compared the results with the normal skin samples. The results were correlated to expression patterns of cytokeratin 10 and cytokeratin peptide 37 as markers of keratinocyte differentiation as well as to the expression of proliferation marker Ki67. Contrary to normal epidermis, the psoriatic epithelium expressed no galectin-3 and no glycoligands for galectin-1. Strong expression of galectin-3/galectin-3-reactive glycoligands in capillaries of psoriatic dermis represents one of the most important findings demonstrating the activation of endothelium in the course of the disease. The keratin expression pattern was not affected in psoriatic skin compared with normal epidermis. In conclusion, the altered galectin expression and binding pattern in psoriatic skin indicates the modified process of keratinocyte maturation in hyperactivated psoriatic epithelium. The enhanced expression of galectin3/galectin-3-reactive glycoligands in dermal capillaries of psoriatic skin can be important for rearrangement of the capillary network and migration of inflammatory cells to psoriatic skin.

Funding

This study was supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic, project No. 304/04/0171, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, project No. MSM0021620806, EC Marie Curie Research Training Network grant (contract No. MRTN-CT-2005-019561).

References

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