8. Extracellular matrix production and degradation in keloid
Noriko Aramaki-Hattori1, Zenzo Isogai2, Keisuke Okabe1, Ruka Hayashi1, Kazuo Kishi1 1:Department of Plastic Surgery, School of Medicine, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan 2:Department of Advanced Medicine, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi, Japan
Keloids are known as proliferative and fibrotic lesions characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM). Versican is a large condroitin-sulfate proteoglycan and one of the major ECMs in the skin. The aim of our study was to investigate versican production and degradation in keloids. We investigated the distributions of versican and its degradation product (called DPEAAE) in keloid tissue and normal skin tissue (n=3 for each group). All tissues were fixed in formalin and embedded with paraffin. Sections were stained with anti-versican and anti-DPEAAE antibodies. There was no significant difference in versican expression between keloid tissue and normal skin tissue. We found that staining of DPEAAE in keloid is stronger than that in normal skin. Furthermore within the same tissue, despite of the strong staining of DPEAAE in keloid lesions, there was little staining in the extra-keloidal lesions. The results suggest that versican degradation may play an important role in keloid formation. Manipulating versican levels or its processing may have therapeutic implications.
