Roles of AIM2 Gene and AIM2 Inflammasome in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Psoriasis

Jieyi Wang; Jing Gao; Cong Huang; Sohyun Jeong; Randy Ko; Xue Shen; Chaofeng Chen; Weilong Zhong; Yanfen Zou; Bo Yu; Changbing Shen

doi:10.3389/fgene.2022.929162

Roles of AIM2 Gene and AIM2 Inflammasome in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Psoriasis

Front Genet. 2022 Sep 2:13:929162. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2022.929162. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Jieyi Wang^{1

2

3}, Jing Gao^{4

5}, Cong Huang^{1

2}, Sohyun Jeong^{6

7}, Randy Ko⁸, Xue Shen⁹, Chaofeng Chen^{1

2}, Weilong Zhong^{1

2}, Yanfen Zou^{1

2}, Bo Yu^{1

2

3}, Changbing Shen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Dermatology, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
² Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Translational Medicine of Dermatology, Shenzhen Peking University-The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Medical Center, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
³ School of Clinical Medicine, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
⁴ Department of Dermatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
⁵ Anhui Provincial Institute of Translational Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, China.
⁶ Marcus Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, United States.
⁷ Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
⁸ Department of Internal Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, United States.
⁹ Department of Dermatology, Chengdu Second People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Abstract

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory skin disease caused by a combination of environmental incentives, polygenic genetic control, and immune regulation. The inflammation-related gene absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) was identified as a susceptibility gene for psoriasis. AIM2 inflammasome formed from the combination of AIM2, PYD-linked apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC) and Caspase-1 promotes the maturation and release of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and IL-18, and triggers an inflammatory response. Studies showed the genetic and epigenetic associations between AIM2 gene and psoriasis. AIM2 gene has an essential role in the occurrence and development of psoriasis, and the inhibitors of AIM2 inflammasome will be new therapeutic targets for psoriasis. In this review, we summarized the roles of the AIM2 gene and AIM2 inflammasome in pathogenesis and treatment of psoriasis, hopefully providing a better understanding and new insight into the roles of AIM2 gene and AIM2 inflammasome in psoriasis.

Keywords: AIM2; AIM2 inflammasome; pathogenesis; psoriasis; treatment.

Publication types

Review