Clinically involved and uninvolved skin samples of 6 psoriatic patients, 4 samples each of normal skin specimens, basal cell carcinoma and keratoacanthoma were studied by an indirect immunofluorescence technique. The monospecific antibody used in this study was directed against a 30 kD glycoprotein, normally expressed by the terminally differentiated corneocytes. Functional characterization of this glycoprotein was evaluated by neutrophil cell movement assays. The involved and uninvolved skin of psoriatic patients expressed the 30 kD glycoprotein not only in the stratum corneum but in all the viable epidermal layers as well. Functional studies revealed this glycoprotein to be a potent chemokinetic molecule. These results suggest that the 30 kD glycoprotein is an intrinsic chemokinetic molecule of the terminally differentiated corneocytes, and its precocious and aberrant expression in psoriatic epidermis is potentially responsible for some of the pathophysiologic aspects of psoriasis.
