Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory
skin disease severely affecting patients' physical and psychological well-being. Aberrant
keratin expression in
psoriasis plays a crucial role in keratinocyte dysfunction and disease development. Little is yet known about the mechanism of this
keratin dysregulation.
VEGF (
Vascular endothelial growth factor) is significantly elevated in psoriatic patients and VEGFRs are detected on keratinocytes, leading to our hypothesis that this
keratin dysregulation may be regulated by
VEGF. In this study, we showed that VEGFR2 was overexpressed in psoriatic epidermis and was correlated with K (
keratin) 6, K16&K17 upregulation and K1&K10 downregulation.
VEGF increased both
mRNA and
protein levels of K6, K16&K17 and decreased those of K1&K10 in NHEKs (normal human epidermal keratinocytes). Further we identified activation of STAT3, ERK1/2, and p38 pathways in
VEGF-treated NHEKs. Using specific pathway antagonists and siRNAs we found that
VEGF induced K6, K16&K17 via these three pathways and reduced K1&K10 via ERK1/2. Finally,
VEGF-induced aberrant
keratin expression pattern and epidermal thickening were confirmed in a
VEGF-local-injection mouse model. Collectively, we demonstrated that
VEGF was associated with aberrant
keratin expression pattern in
psoriasis and provided a new insight into the role of
VEGF in
psoriasis pathogenesis, indicating
VEGF as a potential therapeutic target.