psoriasis

Julia Warren and colleagues at the School of Medicine have developed an approach to creating treatments for osteoporosis and autoimmune diseases that may avoid the risk of infection and cancer posed by some current medications. Warren is pictured with her mentor and co-author, Steven Teitelbaum, MD.

Scientists have identified the first gene directly linked to the most common form of psoriasis, a chronic skin condition. The research shows that rare mutations in the CARD14 gene, when activated by an environmental trigger, can lead to plaque psoriasis. This type of psoriasis accounts for 80 percent of all cases.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has launched its new Center for the Study of Itch, believed to be the world’s first multidisciplinary program designed solely to understand and treat itch. It was established to bring scientists and clinicians together to study the mechanisms that transmit the perception of itch and to translate those findings into better treatments for chronic sufferers. 

Five decades after the discovery of a rare but potentially pivotal immune cell, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a way to eliminate it in mice. The finding, which appears in the journal Immunity, will enable more detailed investigations of the important roles the plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) plays in fighting viruses and causing autoimmune diseases like psoriasis and lupus.