A Study of Apoptosis in Pemphigus Vulgaris / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Pemphigus vulgaris is an autoimmune bullous dermatoses of skin and mucosa characterized by loss of adhesion between keratinocytes, a process known as acantholysis. Apoptosis, programmed cell death, may participate in pathogenesis of intercellular detachment and loss of cell-matrix interaction. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to investigate the induction of apoptosis in the pemphigus lesional epidermis and to elucidate the mechanism of apoptosis induced by pemphigus sera. METHODS: Hoechst 33342 staining was performed to determine the induction of apoptosis in the pemphigus lesional epidermis. In addition, we used HaCaT cells treated with pemphigus sera and analyzed the expression of caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9 and bcl-2, bcl-xL, bax, bak by the RT-PCR method. RESULTS: In Hoechst 33342 staining, typical findings of apoptosis were observed in the pemphigus lesional epidermis showing acantholysis. RT-PCR showed the upregulation of caspase group (caspase-3, caspase-8, caspase-9), the downregulation of antiapoptotic bcl-2 family (bcl-2, bcl-xL) and the upregulation of proapoptotic bcl-2 family (bax, bak). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that apoptosis may be associated with acantholysis of pemphigus lesional epidermis and may play an important role in the pathogenesis of pemphigus.