Altered expression of keratins during abnormal wound healing in human skin

Keloids and hypertrophic scars are a result of aberrations of the normal wound healing processes of the skin. The expression of keratins, the proteins of an intermediate filament supergene family, closely parallel the division/differentiation of epithelial cells and therefore offer excellent molecular markers to examine wound healing. In this study, the expression of K5/K14, proliferation specific keratin polypeptides in normal skin, keloids and hypertrophic scars was analysed. Results indicated that unlike normal wounds and hypertrophic scars, keloid epidermis displayed increased expression of K5 and K14 at both the translational and transcriptional levels. The molecular mechanisms in the pathogenesis of keloids appear to be different from those of hypertrophic scars.