Objective To investigate the mechanism of tazarotene in active psoriasis vulgaris. MethodsHB-EGFmRNA in active psoriatic lesions before and 10 days after the treatment with tazarotene was detected by hybridization in situ. Results There was nearly no expression of HB-EGFmRNA in psoriatic lesions (9.1%); after the treatment with tazarotene, there was expression of HB-EGF not only in basal layer (95.5%), but also focal expression in suprabasal layers of epidermis (77.3%). Conclusion Tazarotene can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of keratinocytes though upregulating expression of HB-EGF in psoriatic epidermis.