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Nature Medicine 11, 17 - 18 (2005)
doi:10.1038/nm0105-17

Psoriasis: more than skin deep

Mark R Pittelkow1

  1. The author is in the Departments of Dermatology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. e-mail: pittelkow.mark@mayo.edu


Psoriasis develops through interactions between the skin and immune system. The cell-signaling molecule Stat3 now emerges as a bridge between the two, initiating perturbations in the epidermis and generating misguided T-cell responses (pages 43–49).


Psoriasis, an autoimmune disorder of the skin and joints, results from complex, aberrant relationships between the skin and immune system, as well as genetic makeup and factors in the environment1. A central quandry of researchers studying this disease is whether it is triggered and propogated within the skin or by the T cell.