Association of Cathepsin E Deficiency with Development of Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a pruritic inflammatory skin diseases associated with a family history of atropy. Here we show that mice lacking the endolysosomal aspartic proteinase cathepsin E spontaneously develop skin lesions similar to those of humans with AD when reared under conventional conditions but not under specific pathogen-free conditions. These mice showed the increase in the ratio of CD4⁺/CD8⁺ T cells, the strong polarization of naïve T cells to T helper 2 cells, and the systemic accumulation of IL-18 and IL-1β accompanied by a marked increase in IL-4, IL-5, and IgE. The relative rates of degradation of IL-18 and IL-1β were significantly lower in cathepsin E-deficient mice than wild-type mice. These results strongly suggest that the development of AD in cathepsin E-deficient mice is initiated by systemic accumulation of IL-18 and IL-1β, mainly due to their reduced turnover rates. In addition, the reduced expression of cathepsin E was also observed in erythrocytes of both humans with AD and the AD mouse model NC/Nga. Cathepsin E deficiency might thus be responsible for the induction of AD in humans and mice.