Dexamethasone suppresses elastin gene expression in human skin fibroblasts in culture.

Regulation of elastin gene expression by dexamethasone was examined in cultured human skin fibroblasts at mRNA and promoter level. Dexamethasone markedly suppressed elastin mRNA levels, maximally down to 30% of the levels noted in control cells. Dexamethasone had minimal effect on the activity of two human elastin promoter/CAT constructs in transiently transfected human skin fibroblasts and rat aortic smooth muscle cells. The results indicate that glucocorticoids potently suppress elastin gene expression by skin fibroblasts, and suggest that reduced elastin deposition may also play a role in glucocorticoid induced dermal atrophy.