A GRHL3-regulated repair pathway suppresses immune-mediated epidermal hyperplasia

J Clin Invest. 2014 Dec;124(12):5205-18. doi: 10.1172/JCI77138. Epub 2014 Oct 27.

Abstract

Dermal infiltration of T cells is an important step in the onset and progression of immune-mediated skin diseases such as psoriasis; however, it is not known whether epidermal factors play a primary role in the development of these diseases. Here, we determined that the prodifferentiation transcription factor grainyhead-like 3 (GRHL3), which is essential during epidermal development, is dispensable for adult skin homeostasis, but required for barrier repair after adult epidermal injury. Consistent with activation of a GRHL3-regulated repair pathway in psoriasis, we found that GRHL3 is upregulated in lesional skin and binds known epidermal differentiation gene targets. Using an imiquimod-induced model of immune-mediated epidermal hyperplasia, we found that mice lacking GRHL3 have an exacerbated epidermal damage response, greater sensitivity to disease induction, delayed resolution of epidermal lesions, and resistance to anti-IL-22 therapy compared with WT animals. ChIP-Seq and gene expression profiling of murine skin revealed that while GRHL3 regulates differentiation pathways both during development and during repair from immune-mediated damage, it targets distinct sets of genes in the 2 processes. In particular, GRHL3 suppressed a number of alarmin and other proinflammatory genes after immune injury. This study identifies a GRHL3-regulated epidermal barrier repair pathway that suppresses disease initiation and helps resolve existing lesions in immune-mediated epidermal hyperplasia.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation / genetics
  • DNA Repair*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Epidermis / metabolism*
  • Epidermis / pathology
  • Focal Epithelial Hyperplasia / genetics
  • Focal Epithelial Hyperplasia / metabolism*
  • Focal Epithelial Hyperplasia / pathology
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation / genetics
  • Mice
  • Mice, Knockout
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / metabolism*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / pathology
  • Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Grhl3 protein, mouse
  • Transcription Factors