Advances in pathogenesis of psoriasis

Abstract

The pathogenesis of psoriasis recently made great advancement due to the introduction of transgenic mouse model. K14-VEGF transgenic mouse showed many of the cellular and molecular features of psoriasis, including angiogenesis in dermis, altered epidermal proliferation and differentiation. Psoriasis of early onset and severe disease showed significantly increased frequency of the +405CC genotype and the C allele. Transgenic mice with keratinocytes expressing active Stat3 (K5. Stat3C mice) developed a skin phenotype closely resembling psoriasis. Stat 3 may link activated keratinocytes and immunocytes required for development of psoriasis. More recently, a novel mouse model with epidermal specific double-knockout of the c-Jun and JunB genes showed developments of psoriasis-like skin phenotype and arthritic lesions. All these data provided more profound understanding in pathogenesis and therapy of psoriasis.