David Dr. Cox

In situ hybridization analysis of cytokine, proto-oncogene and tumour suppressor gene expression in psoriasis.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and to compare, by in situ hybridization, gene expression of IL-1Β, IL-8, TGF-Β1, TGF-Β2, TGF-Β3, TGF-α, p53 and c-myc in lesions and in non-involved skin of patients with psoriasis. All lesional skin biopsies showed overexpression of IL-1Β, IL-8 and TGF-α mRNAs. IL-1Β hybridization signals were strong in a small number of cells localized predominantly in the dermal papillae and in the suprapapillary epidermis. Overexpression of TGF-α was observed in all suprabasal keratinocytes, whereas strongly elevated IL-8 mRNA expression was found to be restricted to clusters of suprabasal keratinocytes. TGF-Β3, p53 and c-myc transcripts were clearly detected in the epidermis of all biopsies, although expression levels were comparable in lesional and non-lesional skin.