GJB2 May Play a Critical Role in Psoriasis Diagnosis and Treatment

According to a study published in Mediators of Inflammation, GJB2 is abnormally expressed in psoriasis and may play a critical role in psoriasis development and progression.

Researchers aimed to screen diagnostic indicators affected by DNA methylation for psoriasis. Biomarkers of psoriasis were explored using bioinformatics methods to analyze the transcriptome data and methylation data of psoriatic lesions and healthy control individuals from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Multiple machine learning algorithms were performed to find key DNA methylation genes, which were verified by receiver operating characteristic curves and molecular biological experiments. To develop differentially expressed methylated genes, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially methylated region (DMR) genes between psoriasis and control samples were combined. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction  (RT-qPCR) were used to detect hub gene expression in psoriasis lesions and healthy control individuals.

A total of 767 DEGs and 896 DMR genes were detected and were associated with skin development, skin barrier function, immune/inflammatory response, and cell cycle. These genes combined resulted in 33 differentially expressed methylated genes. GJB2 was identified as a hub gene for psoriasis. It was also expressed in higher amounts in psoriasis compared with healthy control individuals, according to IHC and RT-qPCR.

“In conclusion, this study indicated that GJB2 could be a key target for the diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis through combined multiomics, and single-gene [gene set enrichment analysis] revealed that GJB2 might induce psoriasis by regulating body immunity and destroying [the] skin barrier,” wrote the study authors. “In addition, reversing the hypomethylation of GJB2 might be a new strategy for the treatment of psoriasis in the future,” they added.

Reference
Xing L, Wu T, Yu L, et al. Exploration of biomarkers of psoriasis through combined multiomics analysis. Mediators Inflamm. Published September 23, 2022. doi:10.1155/2022/7731082