Abstract
Mucosal wound healing in adults has been reported to feature diminished scar formation compared to healing skin wounds. We sought to determine if the expression pattern of chaperonin containing T-complex polypeptide (CCT) subunits in mucosal wounds and fibroblasts is different from that observed in skin wounds and fibroblasts. We found that CCT-beta is the only subunit message to be reduced in wounded mucosa versus unwounded control, and this reduction was confirmed at the protein level. In contrast, mRNA levels of CCT-zeta, -delta, -eta, and -epsilon were significantly increased in mucosal wounds. The increase in CCT-eta was also confirmed at the protein level. Expression levels of CCT-alpha, -beta, -delta; -epsilon, and -theta mRNAs were significantly increased in adult mucosal fibroblasts in culture compared to skin-derived fibroblasts. Western blot analyses confirmed a modest increase in CCT-beta in adult mucosal fibroblasts relative to skin fibroblasts, but CCT-eta protein was unaffected. These differences may contribute to the reported difference in healing outcomes between these two tissue types.