CYCLIC NUCLEOTIDES AND EPIDERMAL-CELL PROLIFERATION

Based on current evidence in nonepidermal systems, an increase in c[cyclic]GMP may be the prime stimulus to increase DNA synthesis and cell multiplication [in mice, pigs, guinea-pigs and humans]. In the epidermis, an increase in epidermal cell proliferation is accompanied by an increase in cAMP. This is true of both psoriasis and experimentally induced increases in DNA synthesis. In experimentally produced increased epidermal cell proliferation, a rise in prostaglandin E precedes the rise in cAMP and cell proliferation.