J Korean Med Sci.  2006 Feb;21(1):95-99. 10.3346/jkms.2006.21.1.95.

Ceramides and Cell Signaling Molecules in Psoriatic Epidermis: Reduced Levels of Ceramides, PKC-alpha, and JNK

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea. nikim@khmc.or.kr
  • 2Department of Medical Nutrition, Graduate School of East-West Medical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Ceramides are the main lipids in the stratum corneum and are generated during cellular stress and apoptosis by de novo synthesis or by the action of sphingomyelinase. In addition, they are lipid second messengers produced by sphingolipid metabolism and trigger important cell responses, including protein kinase C-alpha (PKC-alpha) activation and the stimulation of signal transduction pathways with apoptosis and stress-activated protein kinases (SAPK), such as c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Thus, ceramides have anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects. This study measured the changes in the levels of epidermal ceramides and ceramide-related apoptotic signaling molecules in psoriasis patients. Samples from lesional and non-lesional epidermis were obtained from psoriasis patients. Total ceramides were fractionated using thin-layer chromatography, and the levels of PKC-alpha and JNK expression were measured using Western blot analysis with specific antibodies. The ceramide level was reduced significantly, and this was associated with the downregulation of apoptotic signaling molecules, such as PKC-alpha and JNK, in the lesional epidermis of psoriasis patients. These results suggest that the decreased level of ceramides downregulates the apoptotic pathway, leading to epidermal proliferation in psoriasis.

Keyword

Apoptosis; Ceramides; JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; Protein Kinase C-alpha; Psoriasis

MeSH Terms

Adult
Apoptosis/physiology
Blotting, Western
Ceramides/*metabolism
Chromatography, Thin Layer
Epidermis/metabolism/pathology/physiopathology
Female
Humans
JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/metabolism
Male
Protein Kinase C-alpha/metabolism
Psoriasis/metabolism/*pathology/physiopathology
Severity of Illness Index
Signal Transduction/*physiology

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Correlation between the percentage reduction in the ceramide level in lesional epidermis and the PASI scores of psoriasis patients. A highly significant positive correlation was observed between the percentage reduction of the ceramide level and the PASI score (r=0.944, p=0.016).

  • Fig. 2 Western blot analysis of PKC-α in lesional and non-lesional epidermis of psoriasis patients. Western blotting was performed using mouse anti-PKC-α antibodies, as described in the Materials and Methods. The level of PKC-α expression was quantified by densitometry (optical density, OD) and is expressed as the percentage of the expression of the control β-actin (normalized OD).

  • Fig. 3 Western blot analysis of JNK in lesional and non-lesional epidermis of psoriasis patients. Western blotting was performed using rabbit anti-JNK antibodies, as described in the Materials and Methods. The level of the JNK expression was quantified by densitometry (optical density, OD) and is expressed as the percentage of the expression of the control β-actin (normalized OD). *Significant differences between lesional epidermis and non-lesional epidermis (p<0.05).


Cited by  1 articles

Altered Levels of Sphingosine and Sphinganine in Psoriatic Epidermis
Sung-Hyuk Moon, Ju-Young Kim, Eun-Hwa Song, Min-Kyung Shin, Yun-Hi Cho, Nack-In Kim
Ann Dermatol. 2013;25(3):321-326.    doi: 10.5021/ad.2013.25.3.321.


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