Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of Podocalyxin protein (PODXL) on the proliferation and apoptosis of keloid fibroblasts. Methods Reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) was used to detect the expression of PODXL mRNA in normal skin fibroblasts and keloid fibroblasts. The expression of PODXL gene in keloid fibroblasts was inhibited by recombinant PODXL gene shRNA lentiviral expression vector infection. The proliferation of cells was measured by EdU assay. The cell cycle and apoptosis rate were analyzed by flow cytometry. The level of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), tyrosine kinase (AKT) total protein and phosphorylated protein in cells were detected by Western Blot. Results Compared with normal skin fibroblasts, the expression of PODXL mRNA in keloid fibroblasts was significantly increased（P<0.05）. Down-regulation of PODXL gene expression significantly inhibited the proliferation of keloid fibroblasts（P<0.05）, arrested the cell cycle in S phase and promoted apoptosis（P<0.05）, decreased PI3K, AKT phosphorylation protein levels（P<0.05）. Conclusion The expression of PODXL in keloid fibroblasts is significantly increased. Down-regulation of PODXL gene expression may arrest cell cycle in S phase, inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis by inhibit the activation of PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Key words: Keloid, fibroblasts, PODXL, PI3K/AKT