317 Transcriptome differences in wound healing between psoriatic nonlesional and healthy skin

Transcriptome differences in wound healing between psoriatic nonlesional and healthy skin In psoriasis, the Koebner phenomenon describes the appearance of isomorphic skin lesions after local trauma in a previously unaffected area. While the pathogenesis remains unclear, this phenomenon suggests that differences exist between psoriatic and healthy wound healing. In this study, we used RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to compare wound healing in psoriasis nonlesional and healthy skin. Three psoriasis subjects and three control subjects each received one 2 mm punch biopsy in nonlesional or healthy skin, respectively. Three days later, a 2 mm punch biopsy over the initial biopsy site was collected for RNA-seq. We identified 833 genes and 779 genes significantly involved in psoriatic nonlesional and control wound healing, respectively (>+/–1.95 fold change, p < 0.05). Gene ontology analysis showed 35 significant biological processes enriched in control wounding and 27 biological processes enriched in psoriatic nonlesional wounding. Control wounding uniquely involved antiviral defense processes such as interferon-beta response, type I interferon signaling pathway, negative regulation of viral genome replication, and response to lipopolysaccharide. Psoriatic nonlesional wounding uniquely involved response to reactive oxygen species, cell redox homeostasis, negative regulation of endopeptidase activity, and positive regulation of cell proliferation. These findings suggest that antiviral and interferon immune responses vary in psoriatic nonlesional wound healing compared to healthy wound healing, which may play a role in koebnerization. This is the first study comparing wound healing in psoriasis nonlesional and control skin. Further studies are being done to identify genes in pathways of interest and confirm these preliminary findings using RT-qPCR and Western blotting.