Antimicrobial Protein, Psoriasis and Wound Healing

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SHANGHAI—A new study out of China found REG3A (regenerating islet-derived protein 3-alpha), a secreted intestinal antimicrobial protein, can promote skin keratinocyte proliferation—an essential element of wound repair, and is an intrinsic element in the skin disorder psoriasis when epithelial proliferation is abnormal—and can be induced by interleukin-17 (IL-17), which means it may mediate the epidermal hyperproliferation observed in normal wound repair and in psoriasis (Immunity June 21, 2012).

The factors that trigger epithelial proliferation in these inflammatory processes are incompletely understood. This study shows REG3A is highly expressed in keratinocytes during psoriasis and wound repair and in imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin lesions. The expression of REG3A by keratinocytes is induced by IL-17 via activation of keratinocyte-encoded IL-17 receptor A (IL-17RA) and feeds back on keratinocytes to inhibit terminal differentiation and increase cell proliferation by binding to exostosin-like 3 (EXTL3) followed by activation of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K) and the kinase AKT.

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