A Role for the E3 Ubiquitin Ligase NEDD4 in Keloid Pathogenesis

The molecular pathomechanisms that drive keloid formation are only partially understood. Genetic studies have provided evidence for a genetic predisposition to keloid formation, and a keloid risk allele has been reported in the gene locus for the E3 ubiquitin ligase NEDD4. Fujita et al. (2018) explore the consequences of this genetic risk allele in NEDD4 for inflammation in the skin and for keloid pathogenesis. This study implicates a specific transcript variant of NEDD4, NEDD4-TV3, as a regulator of NF-kB/STAT3emediated inflammation and provides evidence that an increase in NEDD4-TV3 promotes keloid formation.