Lipocortin I (LPC-I, also called annexin I) is a 35-kD protein that binds phospholipids and actin in a Ca(++)-dependent manner. It is also a major substrate for EGF receptor/kinase and protein kinase C, and a putative inhibitor of phospholipase A2, which produces chemical mediators to cause inflammation. Psoriasis (PS) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by a rapid turnover of keratinocytes and a defect in keratinization with increased activities of phospholipase C and A2, and EGF receptor. To understand the mechanism of the PS lesion formation and the function of LPC-I, its distribution was studied in the epidermis of PS, subacute eczema and normal skin, and in tumor cells of seborrheic keratosis and Bowen's disease. This study involved immunofluorescence and immunoblotting using affinity-purified polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies specific to LPC-I and to its Ca(++)-bound form. In normal, nonlesional PS and subacute eczema epidermis, LPC-I was detected mainly in the cytoplasm of the suprabasal cells, although it was on the inner aspects of the plasma membrane in some parts of the granular layer. In lesional epidermis of PS, it was localized mainly on the inner aspects of the plasma membrane, but not in the cytoplasm of the whole suprabasal cells as the Ca(++)-bound form, indicating a preferential localization on the plasma membrane. This membrane-binding of LPC-I was also observed in seborrheic keratosis, but not in Bowen's disease. These results suggest that the binding of LPC-I to the plasma membrane occurs actually in living cells, plays a role, not necessarily disease specific, in the PS lesion formation, and has some relevance to normal or abnormal differentiation of keratinocytes.