Profilig the Atopic Dermatitis Epidermal Transcriptome by Tape Stripping and BRB-seq

Tape stripping has recently gained use for the study of the transcriptome of atopic dermatitis (AD), a common inflammatory skin disorder characterized by a defective epidermal barrier and perturbated immune response. Here, we performed BRB-seq (a low cost, multiplex-based, transcriptomic profiling technique) to study the epidermal transcriptome of AD patients and healthy controls from tape stripped skin samples. 30 AD patients and 30 age and gender matched healthy controls (HC) were recruited from the outpatient clinic at Gentofte Hospital between April 2018 and November 2019. Tape stripped skin samples were obtained by attaching adhesive tape strips (diameter 22 mm, Disc D-Squame, Monaderm, Monaco, France) to the skin for 10 seconds with a standardized pressure (225 g cm−2) using the D-Squame pressurizer D500 (CuDerm, Dallas, TX, USA). Each sample consisted of 8 consecutive D-squame tapes, where the 5th to 8th tapes were proceed for transcriptomics analysis. A subpopulation of patients with AD and HC continued in a longitudinal study, where tape stripped skin samples were taken at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after the baseline visit. In total, and after quality control, 132 samples were included for transcriptomic profiling.