Serine proteinases in human cutaneous mastocytosis.

The main chymotryptic and tryptic proteinases of human skin were found in high-salt extracts of human dermis. The levels of these enzymes were markedly increased in salt extracts of human cutaneous mastocytosis as compared to the levels found in extracts of involved skin from the same patients, human cutaneous hemangiomas, and normal human skin. These data suggest that the chymotryptic and tryptic proteinases of human skin are primarily of mast-cell origin.