Tape strips detect distinct immune and barrier profiles in atopic dermatitis and psoriasis

Background Our current understanding of atopic dermatitis (AD) and psoriasis pathophysiology is largely derived from skin biopsy studies that cause scarring and may be impractical in large-scale clinical trials. Although tape strips show promise as a minimally invasive technique in these common diseases, a comprehensive molecular profiling characterizing and differentiating the 2 diseases in tape strips is unavailable. Objective Our aim was to construct a global transcriptome of tape strips from lesional and nonlesional skin of adults with moderate-to-severe AD and psoriasis. Methods A total of 20 tape strips were obtained from lesional and nonlesional skin of patients with AD and psoriasis and skin from controls (n = 20 each); the strips were subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), with quantitative RT-PCR validation of immune and barrier biomarkers. Results We detected RNA-seq profiles in 96 of 100 of samples (96%), with 4123 and 5390 genes differentially expressed in AD and psoriasis lesions versus in controls, respectively (fold change ≥ 2; false discovery rate [FDR]  Conclusion RNA-seq tape strip profiling detected distinct immune and barrier signatures in lesional and nonlesional AD and psoriasis skin, suggesting their utility as a minimally invasive alternative to biopsies for detecting disease biomarkers.