Biomarkers of An Autoimmune Skin Disease--Psoriasis

Abstract

Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent autoimmune skin diseases. However, its etiology and pathogenesis are still unclear. Over the last decade, omics-based technologies have been extensively utilized for biomarker discovery. As a result, some promising markers for psoriasis have been identified at the genome, transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome level. These discoveries have provided new insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways in psoriasis pathogenesis. More importantly, some of these markers may prove useful in the diagnosis of psoriasis and in the prediction of disease progression once they have been validated. In this review, we summarize the most recent findings in psoriasis biomarker discovery. In addition, we will discuss several emerging technologies and their potential for novel biomarker discovery and diagnostics for psoriasis.

Keywords: Biomarker; Genomics; Metabolomics; Proteomics; Psoriasis.

Figure 1

Pipeline of biomarker discovery and therapeutic targeting in psoriasis Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent autoimmune inflammatory skin diseases. The four main clinical types are plaque (vulgaris) (A), erythrodermic (B), pustular (C), and guttate (D). Potential biomarkers of psoriasis could be identified using various technologies including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Some promising biomarkers of psoriasis have been identified with different “omics” platforms as shown in the figure, and more exciting findings could be expected with the advancement of these technologies. Valuable biomarkers should be validated using orthogonal techniques such as ELISA, Western blot, qRT-PCR, and IHC with a larger cohort of subjects, in order to achieve statistically meaningful results. The validated biomarkers could potentially be useful in the clinical diagnostics and therapeutics of psoriasis.