Epithelial-Immune Metabolic Codependency Fuels Inflammatory Disease [Spatial Transcriptomics]

Inflammatory skin diseases are spurred by unchecked immune-epithelial circuits. However, the specific metabolic factors involved in crosstalk and their impact on the dysregulation of these two cellular components are not well understood. To better decipher the metabolic factors involved in psoriasis, we employed spatial transcriptomics (ST), a ground-breaking technology that precisely maps gene expression from histologically-intact tissue sections. These findings identify therapeutically targetable metabolic vulnerabilities in inflammatory skin disease by unveiling a remarkable coordination of metabolic processes between the epithelial and immune compartments. This is a cross-sectional study involving the accrual of 3-4-mm skin punch biopsy samples from pre- and post-treatment lesional and non-lesional psoriatic skin. The samples were then subjected to the protocols entailed by spatial transcriptomics platform.