Psoriasis is a chronic, inflammatory, hyper-proliferative skin disease that affects nearly 80 million people worldwide. During Phase 1, cells from involved psoriatic lesions were harvested, proliferated in monolayer culture, and cryopreserved. Culture conditions were identified which allowed the production of a full thickness psoriatic tissue model (PTM). The PTM had a hyperproliferative phenotype, produced cytokines known to be important in the psoriatic disease state, and expressed protein markers characteristic of psoriasis. In addition, the PTM appeared responsive to cytokine treatments known to be effective in treating psoriasis. Phase II research will expand on Phase 1 results. The full-thickness 3-dimensional PTM will be further developed by incorporating immuno-competent T cells. The tissue model will be fully characterized in terms of gene expression and cytokine release and the effect of immuno- suppressive drugs will be investigated. Finally, culture conditions will be adapted to allow production of the PTM in a high throughput screening (HTS) format that is compatible with modern HTS drug screening methods.
In order to perform relevant basic research and drug discovery experiments, it is essential to have relevant disease models. The availability of an in vitro reconstructed, immuno-competent psoriatic tissue model will fulfill the needs of pharmaceutical companies and the academic institutions working in the field of psoriasis.
