title: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition of the eccrine glands is involved in skin fibrosis in morphea.
abstract: Morphea is a type of localized scleroderma. It is a skin disease involving the development of fibrosis in the dermis and subcutaneous fat tissue beneath without a visceral lesion, and the cause is still unclear. An involvement of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been reported as a cause of tissue fibrosis, but this was mostly observed in pulmonary and hepatic fibrosis, and the involvement of EMT in a skin disease, morphea, has not been studied . Thus, we analyzed the involvement of EMT in skin fibrosis in morphea patients using pathological techniques. Skin lesions of six morphea patients were analyzed (five female and one male patient). As a control, non-light-exposed skin lesions of 11 healthy females were analyzed. Concretely, tissue samples were prepared from these subjects and subjected to immunostaining of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and fibronectin, which have been reported to be associated with fibrosis, and Snail1 and E-cadherin, which are considered to be involved in EMT, and expressions of these were analyzed. In morphea patients, dermal expression of TGF-β1, α-SMA and fibronectin, which are involved in fibrosis, was enhanced, and, at the same time, enhanced expression of Snail1 and reduced expression of E-cadherin, which are involved in EMT, were observed in the dermal eccrine glands. These findings suggested the progression of EMT in the dermal eccrine glands in morphea.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Dermatology, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Hirohiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akamatsu
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yagami
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Shiroh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohgo
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arima
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mizutani
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Kayoko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsunaga
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D020405:Dermis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D004439:Eccrine Glands / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012594:Scleroderma, Localized / Q000473:pathology*; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C541116:ACTA2 protein, human; D000199:Actins; D015820:Cadherins; D005353:Fibronectins; C000604407:SNAI1 protein, human; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1
keywords: eccrine glands; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; fibrosis; morphea