Genomics in the lab
Genetic variants associated with increased susceptibility to psoriasis are reported in five papers published online this week . Psoriasis is a chronic and recurrent skin disease, and one of the most prevalent autoimmune diseases, with a global prevalence of 2-3 per cent. One of the studies was led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) at Guy's and St Thomas' and King's College London and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University, and involved multiple UK institutions. The team of researchers led by Professor Richard Trembath, Head of King's College London's Division of Genetics and Molecular Medicine and Director of the NIHR BRC, in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Barker, carried out a genome-wide association study of 2,622 patients with psoriasis and 5,667 healthy individuals from across the UK. The results were replicated with European studies involving more than 9,000 individuals. The study identified six regions of the genome newly associated with psoriasis, and found evidence for an interaction between two associated regions - HLA-C and ERAP1. This is the first report of an interaction observed within a genome wide association study into psoriasis.
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