Article The Rockefeller University Press $30.00

Inflammatory skin is the most common dis order in dermatology. Psoriasis and atopic der matitis are the two main chronic conditions of inflammatory skin diseases and originate from an aberrant interaction between the skin and the immune system (Pittelkow, 2005). Character istics of inflamed scaly skin are hyperprolifera tion and altered differentiation of keratinocytes, as well as increased inflammatory cell infiltra tion and blood vessel formation (Lowes et al., 2007; Wagner et al., 2010). Beyond environ mental factors, a large set of hereditary factors, including many genes related to the immune system, contribute to the onset of the disease (Nestle et al., 2009). Some alterations in genes related to proper skin barrier function like fil aggrin have also been implicated (Proksch et al., 2008; Roberson and Bowcock, 2010). Deficien cies in physical, biochemical, or immunological compositions enable percutaneous penetration of chemicals and microbes, which promotes inflam mation. In mice, transgenic studies addressed the contribution of key signaling pathways to model psoriatic skin, including STAT3, AP1, TGF, NFB, and VEGF pathways (Gudjonsson et al.