Gene expression profile after doxycycline treatment in keratin5 knockout epidermis

Epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) is a skin disorder caused by mutations in keratin (K) 5 or K14 genes. Little effect therapy is available.Following clinical reports, we applied the small molecule doxycycline to K5-/- mice. We demonstrate that doxycycline extended the survival of neonatal K5-/- mice from less than 1 to up to 8 hours. Microarray and TaqMan real-time PCR showed a downregulation of MMP-13 and IL-1beta, indicating an effect of doxycycline on transcription. Our data offer a novel small molecule based therapy approach for EBS. Keywords: drug treatment, global gene expression comparative profile doxycycline (50 µg/mlwith 5 % sucrose) was administered by oral route to pregnant K5+/- females (mated to K5+/- males) starting from E13.5. 5 % sucrose solution was administered to the control group.