Glycoprotein composition of psoriatic epidermis in relation to growth control

The composition of isolated [3H]-fucose- and [3H]-glucosamine-labeled glycopeptides from psoriatic lesion, psoriatic uninvolved, regenerating-normal, and normal epidermis (subdivided into basal and differentiated cells) has been analyzed according to molecular weight and affinity to concanavalin A. Basal cells from normal skin have a higher sialic acid content of their "biantennary" fucose-labeled glycoproteins than differentiated cells. Fucose-labeled glycoproteins from regenerating normal skin show an increased molecular weight of their carbohydrate moieties which precedes entrance of the cell into S-phase. In psoriatic uninvolved skin, glycoproteins with more highly branched carbohydrate structures are present in reduced quantity. The previously reported increase in percentage of high-molecular-weight fucose-labeled glycopeptides for psoriatic lesions appears to be specific in that its composition cannot be explained in terms of an increased growth fraction.