Increased expression of 14-3-3ɛ protein in intrinsically aged and photoaged human skin in vivo

Skin aging is a complicated process associated with the passage of time and environmental exposure, especially to UV light. This aging phenomenon is related to alterations in various cellular mechanisms, such as changes in apoptosis, perturbations to cellular signaling, and an increased genetic instability. In this study, we investigated changes of proteins involved in intrinsic aging by the proteomic analysis of human sun-protected (upper inner arm) young and aged dermis. One of the proteins upregulated in aged dermis was identified as 14-3-3ɛ. This protein is an isoform of 14-3-3 protein, which is involved in cellular processes like signal transduction, cell cycle arrest, and apoptosis. 14-3-3ɛ is consistently found to be upregulated in the sun-protected dermis of aged skin, by Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining. In addition, we demonstrate that the expression of 14-3-3ɛ is further upregulated in the sun-exposed (photodamaged) dermis, and that the UV irradiation of young skin significantly upregulates 14-3-3ɛ in vivo. Our results suggest the possibility that the cellular processes related to 14-3-3ɛ protein play an important role in the photoaging and intrinsic aging of human skin.