Surface Sugars on Immune Cells Linked to the Progression of Psoriasis

A new study has found that immune cells shed the sugars on their surface prior to entering the inflamed skin in people suffering from psoriasis. These findings could lay the foundation for understanding how this disease progresses and lays the groundwork for new approaches to treating psoriasis. 

The study, whose findings were published in the Science Signaling journal, was conducted by a team in the UK, namely, Doctor Amy Saunders who works at Lancaster University, Doctor Douglas Dyer who works at the University of Manchester, and Doctor Megan Priestley, who was a PhD student to both Sanders and Dyer. Priestley now works at MIT in the U.S. 

The cells in our bodies, especially the cells lining the walls of our blood vessels, have a thick layer of molecules made from complex sugars as their coating. This coating is referred to as the glycocalyx. It plays many roles, such as protecting the walls of blood vessels from chemical and mechanical damage. Recent research has revealed that this glycocalyx plays a role in regulating how immune cells travel through the body. 

The trio that conducted this study in the UK discovered that our immune cells, which also have the glycocalyx layer as their coating, shed this glycocalyx to enable them leave the blood and move into the skin tissues of people having inflammatory skin diseases like psoriasis. This finding challenges the previously held view that only the glycocalyx of the walls of blood vessels shed the sugar coating to facilitate the process of immune cells entering inflamed skin. 

When immune cells enter inflamed tissues, they help in combating and bringing down that inflammation while also fighting infections. However, the entry of immune cells into inflamed tissues can, in some cases, be harmful. For instance, the entry of immune cells plays a role in driving a number of inflammatory conditions like psoriasis that affect the skin. 

Dr. Saunders explained that the research team was excited to discover that the glycocalyx coating existed on immune cells and was shed prior to their entry into inflamed tissue like the skin. She hoped that their findings would open the door to additional studies geared at finding ways to use their study results in the quest for new approaches to treating inflammatory diseases. Dr. Dyer added that they were happy to work on a project that helped to redefine what has been known about the way in which immune cells are recruited to sites of inflammation. 

As more research teams at other entities like Soligenix Inc. (NASDAQ: SNGX) engage in R&D work intended to bring to market novel treatments indicated for inflammation, a lot more could be uncovered about the diseases that are driven by this condition. 

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