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Updated: Oct 1, 2026
Evaluation of Keratinocyte Proliferation on Two- and Three-dimensional Type I Collagen Substrates
Published on: April 22, 2019
An immunohistochemical study of abnormal keratinocyte proliferation in molluscum contagiosum
1Department of Dermatology, Erasme University Hospital, 808 Route de Lennik, B-1070 Brussels, Belgium. tsimonar@ulb.ac.be
Background:
Molluscum contagiosum is a common cutaneous tumour that is characterized by usually spontaneous involution and self-limited spreading in immunocompetent individuals.
Objective:
We aimed to investigate the apoptosis and the expression of cell-cycle proteins in molluscum contagiosum lesions.
Methods:
The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labelling (TUNEL)-based apoptotic index and the expression of the cell-cycle proteins Ki-67, p53, p21WAF and Bcl-2 were investigated in molluscum contagiosum lesions obtained from the trunk of 20 immunocompetent patients and in normal skin samples from the trunk of six healthy volunteers.
Results:
Whereas molluscum contagiosum lesions displayed a TUNEL-based apoptotic index similar to that of normal skin, they exhibited an increased Ki-67 index, which was confined to the basal and first suprabasal layers (P < 0.001). Compared with normal non-sun-exposed skin, molluscum contagiosum lesions also exhibited increased p53 staining in basal cells (P < 0.01), increased p21WAF in suprabasal cells (P < 0.001) and loss of Bcl-2 expression.
Conclusions:
These results indicate that molluscum contagiosum lesions exhibit an increased proliferation rate of keratinocytes, which is likely to be partially counteracted by accumulation of p53.
