Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, characterized by excessive tissue remodeling and immune cell activity. Psoriasis manifests in scaly reddish plaques on frequently chafed body parts, leading to itching and pain, which may severely affect the patient's quality of life.
Tissue-specific biomarkers, quantifying and monitoring epidermal damage, dermal damage and immune cell activity, provide key advantages when we want to understand the disease mechanisms. Utilizing such biomarkers can help monitor disease activity and predict a therapy with greater reliability of response.
Our dermatology biomarker panels offer extracellular matrix-based biomarkers, which are fundamentally more different and more specific compared to what’s offered by omics providers. Our technology provides valuable insights into tissue formation, degradation, and resolution, that offer a deeper understanding of pathological processes related to skin diseases. At the same time, proteomics providers' wide-range arrays may not offer the same level of specificity. Tissue remodeling and immune cell activity are key features of psoriasis. Quantifying disease activity and remodeling in psoriasis can provide a unique insight into structural and functional changes in the disease pathogenesis.
We enable precision medicine by providing information about ongoing pathological processes, such as damage and repair, within the ECM. This can guide targeted treatments and therapies, enhancing patient outcomes and personalized medicine approaches. At the same time, our markers, supported by our long history of experience and expertise, expedite drug development by specifically identifying target populations and reducing costs, over proteomic providers’ hopes to hit the right target by chance.
Figure 1. PRO-C3 and CPa9-HNE biomarkers upregulated in psoriasis. | A balanced extracellular matrix (ECM) is necessary to preserve skin integrity and tissue homeostasis. Several ECM components of the dermis, epidermis, and epidermal basement membrane, reflecting the individual skin compartments are remodeled during psoriasis progression. Biomarkers related to psoriasis pathogenesis are crucial for use in clinical trials, but also to advance the knowledge of the biological complexity and heterogeneity behind psoriasis. The biomarkers utility in the disease is depicted by PRO-C3 (Activated dermal fibroblasts; Formation of type III collagen) and CPa9-HNE (Neutrophil activity; S100A9 degraded by human neutrophil elastase), in Figure 1. Both biomarkers are upregulated in patients with psoriasis. Browse our dermatology biomarker portfolio |
 | The skin is the largest organ of the human body, and consists of three different layers; epidermis, dermis and subcutis. These three layers have distinct tissue architectures and functions. Skin functions are dependent on a complex composition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. The ECM of the skin can be divided into the epidermal ECM, epidermal basement membrane and the papillary/reticular ECM. The major ECM components of the skin are collagens, which are located in the different tissue compartments to maintain tissue architecture. The Nordic ProteinFingerPrint Technology™ allows for the quantification of the different layers of the skin, and also the quantification of immune cell activity involved in different pathologies (Mast Cells, Neutrophils, and macrophages). |
Psoriasis is a common, chronic, immune-mediated disease manifested in the skin, affecting 2-3% of the population. It appears in early adulthood and is a lifelong condition. Up to 90% of all psoriasis patients have plaque psoriasis, which is characterized by “plaques” of the skin, that are mainly found on the scalp, knees, elbows, trunk, and limbs causing itching and pain. Psoriasis is diagnosed by medical examination and can upon diagnosis be treated accordingly. The first in-line treatments include topical corticosteroids, while severe cases may receive biologics and oral treatments.
Psoriasis is characterized as a dermatological disease where the tissue architecture is being remodeled. The main component of the skin is collagens, which are remodeled as a part of the normal homeostasis of the skin. In psoriasis, there is an imbalance of tissue build-up and tissue breakdown, resulting in a net degradation of the tissue. Protein fingerprint biomarkers can quantify skin tissue turnover directly in a serum sample and serve as a liquid biopsy.
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