1. ^*Departments of Medicine, Cell and Developmental Biology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
2. ^†Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
3. ^‡Cascade Biologics, Portland, Oregon, USA
4. ^§Epithelial Pathobiology Research Unit, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
5. ^¶Department of Dermatology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, USA

Correspondence: Robert J. Coffey, MD, Vanderbilt University, Suite 4140 MRB III, 465 21st Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37232, USA. Email robert.coffey@vanderbilt.edu, meghan.mchenry@vanderbilt.edu

Received 25 October 2004; Revised 15 February 2005; Accepted 23 February 2005; Published online 3 June 2005.

Abstract

Overexpression of amphiregulin (AR) has been linked to psoriasis in mouse and man. Since psoriasis is marked by hyperproliferation of keratinocytes and loss of epidermal barrier function with infiltration of inflammatory cells into the epidermis and dermis, we hypothesized that AR might contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis by affecting the integrity of cell–cell junctions. We find that there is a marked reduction of functional E-cadherin in psoriatic lesions from both INV-AR mice and individuals with psoriasis. Total E-cadherin levels are dramatically reduced in psoriatic lesions from INV-AR mice. Compared with normal skin, psoriatic lesions from individuals with psoriasis exhibit downregulation of the cytoskeletal-associated triton-insoluble pool of E-cadherin and the appearance of an 80 kDa ectodomain fragment in the cytoplasmic triton-soluble pool. There is reduced immunohistochemical staining for E-cadherin in the basal epidermis of human psoriatic lesions. Moreover, there is enhanced transmigration of human neutrophils through polarized epithelial cell monolayers of MDCK cells after administration of AR, but not transforming growth factor-, further supporting a specific role for AR in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.