Project description:We report the application of Illumina small RNA sequencing to normal human skin, as well as uninvolved and involved psoriatic skin. By obtaining over 600 million qualified reads from 20 healthy controls and 47 psoriasis biopsies (uninvolved/involved), we have generated a complete small RNA profile in normal and diseased human skin, with particular emphasis on miRNAs. We report the discovery of 284 putative novel miRNAs as well as 98 differentially expressed miRNAs in psoriatic skin.
Project description:The transcriptional basis for disrupted epidermal differentiation arising from TP63 AEC mutations remains to be elucidated. Here we present an organotypic model of AEC dysfunction that phenocopies differentiation defects observed in AEC patient skin. Transcriptional analysis of model AEC tissue revealed impaired induction of differentiation regulators, including OVOL1, GRHL3, KLF4, PRDM1 and ZNF750. Genome wide binding analyses of TP63 during epidermal differentiation showed direct binding of OVOL1, GRHL3, and ZNF750 promoters suggesting AEC mutants prevent normal activation of these targets by direct transcriptional interference. Remarkably, exogenous ZNF750 restores impaired epidermal differentiation caused by AEC mutation. Thus, repression of ZNF750 is central to disrupted epidermal differentiation in model AEC tissue. ChIP-Seq analysis: Examination of p63 binding in proliferating and differentiating human keratinocytes