Genetically programmed differences in epidermal host defense between psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients
Publication year
2008Source
PLoS One, 3, 6, (2008), article e2301ISSN
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor
Display more detailsDisplay less details
Organization
Dermatology
Journal title
PLoS One
Volume
vol. 3
Issue
iss. 6
Subject
N4i 1: Pathogenesis and modulation of inflammation; NCMLS 1: Immunity, infection and tissue repair; NCMLS 1: Infection and autoimmunity; ONCOL 1: Hereditary cancer and cancer-related syndromes; ONCOL 3: Translational research; UMCN 4.2: Chronic inflammation and autoimmunityAbstract
In the past decades, chronic inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, Crohn's disease and celiac disease were generally regarded as immune-mediated conditions involving activated T-cells and proinflammatory cytokines produced by these cells. This paradigm has recently been challenged by the finding that mutations and polymorphisms in epithelium-expressed genes involved in physical barrier function or innate immunity, are risk factors of these conditions. We used a functional genomics approach to analyze cultured keratinocytes from patients with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis and healthy controls. First passage primary cells derived from non-lesional skin were stimulated with pro-inflammatory cytokines, and expression of a panel of 55 genes associated with epidermal differentiation and cutaneous inflammation was measured by quantitative PCR. A subset of these genes was analyzed at the protein level. Using cluster analysis and multivariate analysis of variance we identified groups of genes that were differentially expressed, and could, depending on the stimulus, provide a disease-specific gene expression signature. We found particularly large differences in expression levels of innate immunity genes between keratinocytes from psoriasis patients and atopic dermatitis patients. Our findings indicate that cell-autonomous differences exist between cultured keratinocytes of psoriasis and atopic dermatitis patients, which we interpret to be genetically determined. We hypothesize that polymorphisms of innate immunity genes both with signaling and effector functions are coadapted, each with balancing advantages and disadvantages. In the case of psoriasis, high expression levels of antimicrobial proteins genes putatively confer increased protection against microbial infection, but the biological cost could be a beneficial system gone awry, leading to overt inflammatory disease.
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
- Academic publications [245262]
- Electronic publications [132513]
- Faculty of Medical Sciences [93207]
- Open Access publications [106119]
Upload full text
Use your RU credentials (u/z-number and password) to log in with SURFconext to upload a file for processing by the repository team.