Detection of lysyl oxidase gene expression in rat skin during wound healing

Abstract

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) initiates the crosslinking of the lysine-derived aldehyde and plays an essential role in maturation of collagen, for example in wound healing. Although the activity of this enzyme has been examined in various disorders, and a further intriguing aspect of the relationship between LOX and tumorigenesis has recently emerged, its gene expression pattern in tissues is still unknown. We examined LOX gene expression during wound healing in rat skin. In addition, type III collagen gene expression was studied to determine the formation of fibrils. The LOX mRNA level reached a peak by day 3 after injury, which was earlier than that of type III collagen, and continued at a high level until day 22. The type III collagen mRNA level began to rise from day 3 and had increased intensely by day 22. In situ hybridization revealed grains corresponding to LOX mRNA in the fibroblasts of the granulomatous tissue. These results suggest that LOX is produced before collagen synthesis in preparation for crosslinking in the early phase of wound healing.

Lysyl oxidase: a potential target for cancer therapy

“…LysOX can oxidize non-ECM lysine rich proteins such as histone-H1 as well as various lysine-rich synthetic peptides including basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (Kagan et al 1983;Giampuzzi et al 2003a;Li et al 2003). As a byproduct of the catalytic reaction, reactive aldehydes and hydrogen peroxide are generated by the LysOX that may contribute to some of the novel roles of LysOX observed in the wound healing, cell migration, motility, proliferation, and differentiation (Li et al 2000Fushida-Takemura et al 1996;Nelson et al 1988;Palamakumbura et al 2004).…”

Early-Gestation Fetal Scarless Wounds Have Less Lysyl Oxidase Expression

“…18 Increased lysyl oxidase expression has been shown in postnatal 6-mm excisional dorsal rat skin wounds by Northern blot analysis beginning on day 1 and peaking on day 3 after injury. 8 Lysyl oxidase expression remained elevated 22 days after injury. In situ hybridization localized lysyl oxidase primarily in fibroblasts of the new granulation tissue, which supported the long-standing hypothesis that collagen cross-linking is an integral component during the scar remodeling process in postnatal repair.…”

“…Increased lysyl oxidase expression has been shown in postnatal repair during scar formation. 8 Lysyl oxidase has an important function during wound repair, and the scarless versus scarring collagen phenotype may be determined by the amount of collagen cross-linking. Thus, in this study, we examined lysyl oxidase expression in "early" E17 scarless and "late" E19 scarring fetal unwounded skin, wounds, and fibroblasts after transforming growth factor (TGF)-␤1 treatment.…”