Sphingosine-1-phosphate Inhibits Human Keratinocyte Proliferation via Akt/PKB Inactivation

Although sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a well-known mitogen, our results show that S1P potently inhibits keratinocyte proliferation, and that this leads the inhibition of DNA synthesis. Interestingly, the prolonged activation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK) and the transient inactivation of Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) were also oberved in concert with the inhibition of keratinocyte proliferation by S1P. To further verify the anti-proliferative action of S1P, we examined changes in cell cycle related proteins. (omitted)