Regulation of gelatinase in human skin organ cultures by glucocorticoids.

Hydrocortisone and dexamethasone prevent the appearance of gelatinase in serum-free explant cultures of normal human skin. Hydrocortisone inhibits maximally at 10(-6) M and dexamethasone at 10(-8) M in culture medium. Glucocorticoids at these concentrations do not cause a generalized decrease in protein synthesis; thus the effect on gelatinase shows specificity. The reduction in gelatinase activity caused by dexamethasone can be overcome in the presence of dexamethasone 21-mesylate, a glucocorticoid antagonist that binds irreversibly to the cytoplasmic steroid receptor. These data suggest that the enzymes of collagen degradation, collagenase and gelatinase, may be coregulated.