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Psoriasis is a multifactorial disease and the mechanisms involved in its pathogenesis remain to be elucidated. FOS-like antigen 1 (Fra-1) is a proto-oncogene. It is a negative inhibitor of activator protein-1 activity and possesses transforming activity. The effect of and possible mechanisms underlying Fra-1 in psoriasis remain to be elucidated. In the present study, western blot analysis and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) techniques were used to identify differentially expressed Fra-1 in psoriatic and in normal control tissues. Compared with the control samples, the expression of normalized Fra-1 genes in psoriasis was 12.6 times higher. Western blot analysis was used to assess the protein levels of Fra-1. The results demonstrated that the protein expression of Fra-1 was high in tissues affected by psoriasis. This also corresponded with the results of RT-qPCR. Fra-1-stable expressing HaCaT/Fra-1 or control HaCaT/vector cell lines were then generated to elucidate the function of Fra-1 in the growth of HaCaT cells. The results demonstrated that Fra-1 promoted the growth of HaCaT cells in vitro by arresting the cell cycle and inhibiting cell apoptosis. These results suggested that Fra-1 may be important in psoriasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]