title: Keratinocytes regain momentum as instigators of cutaneous inflammation.
abstract: The primary role of skin is to serve as a protective coat and epidermal keratinocytes are responsible for this barrier function. Besides providing structural support, keratinocytes can initiate inflammatory reactions, thereby enhancing healing of skin that follows barrier perturbation. In complex diseases such as psoriasis, in which both barrier function and cutaneous inflammation are dysregulated, it is unclear whether the primary pathogenic disturbance resides in keratinocytes or in immunocytes, which are commingled in psoriatic plaques. Researchers have turned to animal models of cutaneous inflammation to gain insights into the pathogenesis of psoriasis. A recent report in which the inducible epidermal deletion of Jun proteins in adult mice triggered inflammatory skin lesions and destructive arthritis has shifted momentum towards the keratinocyte as a key instigator of cutaneous inflammation. However, because this transgenic mouse model mimics only some features of psoriasis, further studies are required before the prevailing view of psoriasis as a fundamentally immunocyte-driven disease can be replaced by the notion that keratinocytes are the primary pathogenic cells in psoriasis.
authors.affiliation: Skin Cancer Research Program, Loyola University of Chicago Medical Center, Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, 2160 South First Avenue, Building 112, Room 301, Maywood, IL 60153, USA. bnickol@lumc.edu
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Nickoloff
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism*; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun