Expression of bone morphogenetic protein 7, Gremlin, vascular endothelial growth factor and high mobility group box-1 in keloid and normal skin / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:The development of keloid is a progress of fibrosis in wound healing, and involves various fibrosis-related cytokines. Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7), Gremlin and high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) play an important role in fibrosis of many organs, but their role in keloid tissue has rarely been reported. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the role of BMP7, Gremlin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and HMGB1 in the development of keloid. METHODS:The protein levels and distribution of BMP7, Gremlin, VEGF and HMGB1 in 20 cases of keloid and 20 cases of normal skin were detected by immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis, respectively. And the correlations among expression levels of BMP7, Gremlin, VEGF and HMGB1 in keloid were analyzed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In keloid tissue, the expression levels of Gremlin, VEGF and HMGB1 were significantly higher than that in normal skin (P<0.01), while the expression levels of BMP7 were significantly lower (P<0.01). The levels of Gremlin were negatively correlated with the levels of BMP7 (r=-0.539, P<0.05). And the levels of VEGF were positively correlated with the levels of HMGB1 (r=0.56, P<0.05). The overexpression of Gremlin and decreased expression of BMP7, as wel as the increased expression of HMGB1 and VEGF, may contribute to the pathogenesis of fibrosis in the development of keloid.