The receptor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator is expressed by keratinocytes at the leading edge during re-epithelialization of mouse skin wounds.

Expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor mRNA was examined in vivo in mouse skin wounds by in situ hybridization. Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor mRNA was found in keratinocytes at the front of the regenerative epithelial outgrowths at the edge of 12-, 48-, and 96-hour-old wounds. The signal was strongest in the keratinocytes just beginning to move 12 h after wounding. At later time-points the signal was weaker, but still confined to keratinocytes at the wound edges. Using in situ hybridization, no cells expressing urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor mRNA could be detected in normal epidermis, in normal-looking epidermis adjacent to the wounds, in dermis, in subcutis, or in newly formed granulation tissue. The specificity of the results was supported by the use of antisense RNA from two different non-overlapping cDNA clones and the corresponding sense RNA probes, and by Northern analysis of tissue extracts. Together with previous findings on expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator and its type 1 inhibitor, the localized and regulated expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor mRNA during skin wound healing indicates that focal extracellular proteolysis at the cell surface generated by receptor-bound urokinase-type plasminogen activator is implicated in the migration of re-epithelializing keratinocytes.