title: Overexpression of KAI1 Protein in Diabetic Skin Tissues.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with diabetes mellitus often have a difficult life, suffering from foot ulceration or amputation. Diabetes is characterized by chronic inflammation, and one of the features of inflammation is hypoxia. Recently, it has been reported that KAI1 is a hypoxia target gene. There is no published research on hypoxia-related KAI1 protein levels in human diabetic skin. Therefore, we have investigated the expression of KAI1 protein in diabetic skin tissue in vivo.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of KAI1 protein was evaluated by western blotting in 6 diabetic skin tissue samples and 6 normal skin samples. Immunohistochemical staining was carried out to identify KAI1 expression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The western blotting revealed significantly increased expression of the KAI1 protein in diabetic skin tissues as compared to normal skin tissues. Immunohistochemical examination demonstrated that KAI1 was expressed in all diabetic skin tissues with moderate-to-strong positivity and weakly expressed in normal skin tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that a high expression of the KAI1 protein can be observed in diabetic skin tissue. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report suggesting that KAI1 protein expression in diabetic skin tissues may be associated with chronic inflammatory states and hypoxia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Moon Kyun
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun Bum
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chul Han
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Soonchunhyung Environmental Health Center for Asbestos, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea. ; Division of Molecular Cancer Research, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Jin
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Cancer Research, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Hae-Seon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Cancer Research, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea. ; Department of Biochemistry, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Cheonan, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Han
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Antigens, CD82; Diabetes mellitus; Skin