Expression of bioinformatically identified genes in skin of psoriasis patients

Gene expression analysis for EPHA2 (EPH receptor A2), EPHB2 (EPH receptor B2), S100A9 (S100 calcium binding protein A9), PBEF (S100 calcium binding protein A8), LILRB2 (nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase), PLAUR (leukocyte immunoglobulin-like receptor, subfamily B (with TM and ITIM domains), member 2), LTB (plasminogen activator, urokinase receptor), WNT5A (lymphotoxin beta (TNF superfamily, member 3)), WNT5A (wingless-type MMTV integration site family, member 5A) has been performed using real-time polymerase chain reaction in affected skin biopsies from patients with psoriasis versus visually unaffected skin of the same 18 patients. It was revealed that the expression of the nine examined genes was upregulated in the affected by psoriasis compared to visually unaffected skin samples. The highest expression was observed for S100A9, S100A8, PBEF, WNT5A2, and EPHB2 genes. S100A9 and S100A8 gene expression in the affected skin samples was 100-fold higher than in visually intact skin while PBEF, WNT5A, and EPHB2 gene expression was upregulated more than fivefold. We suppose that the high expression of these genes might be associated with the severity of the disease. Moreover, the transcriptional activity of these genes might serve a molecular indicator of the efficacy of treatment of psoriasis.