SERUM AND TISSUE OSTEOPONTIN IN PATIENTS WITH KELOIDS

Abstract

ound healing is a complex process requiring the collaborative efforts of different tissues and cell lineages, and involving the coordinated interplay of several phases of proliferation, migration, matrix synthesis and contraction. A keloid is an abnormal proliferation of scar tissue that forms at the site of cutaneous injury. The fact that some people have keloidal tendency while others don't remains not fully understood. Osteopontin is a multifunctional matricellular protein produced by a wide range of body cells including T cells, macrophages and fibroblasts, and research has defined a role for OPN in maintenance and reconfiguration of tissue integrity during inflammatory processes. Moreover, OPN regulates fibroblast behavior and myofibroblast differentiation. Expression of OPN in normal, healthy skin is low but increased during wound healing. Whether OPN contributes to the increased incidence of keloidal formation in certain individuals needs to be explored. Therefore, our aim was to study a possible link between OPN expression in serum and tissue and keloid pathogenesis and tendency. To our knowledge, this is the first study in published literature to undertake such attempt.