Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of small interfering RNA （siRNA） on the expression of CD147 on peripheral blood T-lymphocytes from patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and its effect on the proliferation and activation of these cells. Methods Peripheral blood monouclear cells （PBMC） were obtained from 10 patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and T lymphocytes were isolated. CD147 siRNA was chemically synthesized, then electroporated into the peripheral T-lymphocytes. Untransfected cells, blank-transfected cells and unspecifically transfected cells served as the control. After 24-, 48-, 72- and 96-hour incubation, RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of CD147 in these cells. MTT assay and flow cytometry were utilized to assess the proliferation of these cellas, and the expression of CD25 at 24, 48, and 72 hours after the transfection. Results Compared with untransfected cells, the mRNA expression of CD147 declined significantly in CD147 siRNA-transfected cells at 24 hours （P < 0.05）, reached to the minimum at 48 hours （P < 0.01）; there was no significant difference in the expression of CD147 between the two groups of cells at 96 hours after the transfection （P > 0.05）. There was a decrease of cell proliferation level by （44.5 ± 3.13）％, （50.7 ± 3.5）％ and （53.98 ± 4.15）％ in CD147 siRNA-transfected cells 24, 48 and 72 hours following the transfection, respectively; the corresponding decrease in blank-transfected cells was （37.28 ± 3.56）％, （33.73 ± 3.29）％, and （28.80 ± 1.49）％, respectively, and that in unspecifically transfected cells, （31.29 ± 2.46）％, （36.1 ± 2.62）％ and （32.08 ± 2.78）％, respectively. A significant decrease was observed in the proliferation of CD147 siRNA-transfected cells compared with that of blank-transfected cells and unspecifically transfected cells at these three time points （P < 0.05, 0.01, 0.01 respectively）. The expression rate of CD25 at 24, 48 and 72 hours was （47.23 ± 3.65）％, （31.50 ± 4.22）％ and （23.05 ± 4.15）％, respectively, on CD147 siRNA-transfected cells, and, （80.2 ± 4.8）％, （81.6 ± 3.35）％ and （83.5 ± 4.1）％, respectively, on untransfected cells; the differences between the two groups at the three time points were statistically significant （all P < 0.01）. Conclusion CD147 is correlated with cell proliferation and activation of peripheral T lymphocytes from patients with psoriasis vulgaris, and may serve as a new treatment target for psoriasis.

Key words: Psoriasis, T-lymphocytes