Studies on the plasma membrane of normal and psoriatic keratinocytes. 4. Characterization of glycoconjugates.

A substantial proportion (20-50%) of radioactive sugar incorporated into glycoconjugates by normal human keratinocytes was soluble in chloroform-methanol; using (14C)-galactose as precursor about half of this fraction was neutral lipid. The incorporation of labelled sugars into the lipid fraction was consistently increased in keratinocytes derived from psoriatic lesions. The abnormality in fucose metabolism which we reported previously has been confirmed. In particular we have shown that the molecular weight of fucosylated glycopeptides appears to be abnormally high in the untreated psoriatic lesion, possibly reflecting an increased degree of branching. In psoriatic uninvolved epidermis and in treated psoriatic lesions the situation is reversed, the molecular weight being significantly lower than normal.