Fig. 2.

Overexpression of USP15, USP16, USP37 and USP48 in SSc skin biopsies

Biopsies were obtained from clinically affected and unaffected skin regions in 20 patients with diffuse SSc and 10 healthy controls. (A) Characteristic images of USP15, USP16, USP37 and USP48 stains, showing positive fibroblasts, endothelial and some inflammatory cells, mainly in perivascular areas. (B) Immunoquantification show significant overexpression of the stained USPs in SSc compared with healthy skin samples. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.005; ***P < 0.0005 using Mann–Whiney tests. USP: ubiquitin-specific peptidase.