Proliferating keratinocytes are putative sources of the psoriasis susceptibility-related EDA+ (extra domain A of fibronectin) oncofetal fibronectin

The extra domain A of fibronectin (EDA) + oncofetal isoform of fibronectin was recently reported to be overexpressed in psoriatic uninvolved epidermis. It has been proposed that the abnormal presence of EDA + oncofetal protein at the dermal–epidermal junction in the uninvolved skin may provide the "psoriatic" environment in which keratinocytes are in a preactivated state with regard to mitogenic signals (e.g., T cell lymphokines). To determine the possible sources of cellular fibronectin in the non-lesional psoriatic skin, we aimed to investigate whether keratinocytes could produce the EDA + oncofetal form of fibronectin. RT-PCR studies revealed that both cultured normal keratinocytes and HaCaT cells express the EDA + splice variant of fibronectin mRNA, and in HaCaT cells the EDA + /EDA − transcript ratio was elevated compared with normal keratinocytes. Cultured keratinocytes and HaCaT cells showed intracytoplasmic staining with an EDA + fibronectin-specific antibody and among the positively stained cells many showed mitosis. Using RT-PCR, western blot analysis, and flow cytometry, we showed that in synchronized HaCaT cells the amount of both total fibronectin and its EDA + isoform change with the proliferation/differentiation state of HaCaT cells and peak in highly proliferating cells. We show that in short-term ex vivo cultures, a small population of EDA + fibronectin containing cell population appear among psoriatic uninvolved, but not normal epidermal cells. We also demonstrate that cell attachment has a strong influence on the expression of both total and EDA + fibronectin. Our results suggest that proliferating keratinocytes could be the sources of the psoriasis susceptibility-related EDA + oncofetal fibronectin in the epidermis.