C19, a C-terminal peptide of CKLF1, decreases inflammation and proliferation of dermal capillaries in psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease with undefined etiology. Chemokine-like factor 1 (CKLF1), a human cytokine that is a functional ligand for CCR4, displays chemotactic activities in a wide spectrum of leukocytes and plays an important role in psoriasis development. In previous study, our laboratory found that the expression of CKLF1 increased in psoriatic lesions. C19 as a CKLF1’s C-terminal peptide has been reported to exert inhibitory effects on a variety of diseases. However, the protective roles of C19 in endothelial cells proliferation and inflammatory cells chemotaxis remain elusive in psoriasis. In this study we examined the protective effect of C19 on both the cellular model and the animal model. The effects of C19 on endothelial cells proliferation and inflammatory cells chemotaxis were investigated in cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and imiquimod-induced psoriasiform inflammation of BALB/c mice based on techniques including immunohistochemical analysis, quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blot, transwell, and EdU assay. This study shows that CKLF1-C19 significantly protects against psoriasis by inhibiting the infiltration of inflammatory cells and proliferation of microvascular cells, possibly via inhibiting MAPK pathways.