The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and proteasome subunits are increased in lesional psoriatic skin. Recent works have highlighted that proteasome levels can be regulated through modulation of proteasome assembly notably by the proteasome maturation protein POMP. We investigated whether proteasome assembly and POMP expression are modified in psoriatic skin. Proteasome assembly as well as expression of proteasome regulators were assessed in non-lesional and lesional psoriatic skin using native gel electrophoresis and western blots, respectively. The protein and mRNA expression levels of POMP were compared by western blots, immunohistochemistry and qPCR. The role of POMP in keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation was assessed by silencing POMP gene expression by RNA interference in HaCaT keratinocytes. We show that both 20S and 26S proteasomes (and their respective proteolytic activities) as well as the main proteasome regulators (PA28αβ, PA28γ, PA200 and 19S complex) are increased in lesional psoriatic skin. POMP binds to 20S precursor complexes and is overexpressed in lesional epidermal psoriatic skin, supporting that POMP-mediated proteasome assembly is increased in psoriatic skin. POMP silencing inhibited HaCaT cell proliferation and induced apoptosis through the inhibition of proteasome assembly. Moreover POMP partial depletion decreased the expression of the differentiation markers keratin 10 and involucrin during the calcium - induced HaCaT cells differentiation. Altogether these results suggest a role for POMP and proteasome assembly in psoriasis pathogenesis.

The small molecule b-AP15 is a novel inhibitor of proteasome deubiquitination. Recent studies have shown that b-AP15 displays antitumor activity in several preclinical, solid tumor models. In this study, we show that b-AP15 triggers time- and dose-dependent apoptosis of the human multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines RPMI8226 and U266, as determined by phosphatidylserine exposure. Apoptosis was dependent on caspase activation and was partially dependent on cathepsin D. Furthermore, b-AP15 triggered processing of pro-caspase-3 and cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase in MM cells. b-AP15 also induced caspase-independent apoptosis in primary human natural killer cells. We also demonstrate that b-AP15 induces activation of the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway in MM cells, with activation of the proapoptotic protein Bax and a pronounced loss of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential. The latter events, however, appeared largely independent of caspase activation. Our data suggest that proteasome deubiquitinase inhibitors may have potential for treatment of multiple myeloma patients.