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Deletion of the activating NKG 2C receptor and a functional polymorphism in its ligand HLA ‐E in psoriasis susceptibility
Author(s) -
Zeng Xue,
Chen Haoyan,
Gupta Rashmi,
PazAltschul Oscar,
Bowcock Anne M.,
Liao Wilson
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.108
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1600-0625
pISSN - 0906-6705
DOI - 10.1111/exd.12233
Subject(s) - psoriasis , immunology , pathogenesis , allele , receptor , immune system , hla g , human leukocyte antigen , biology , population , medicine , genetics , gene , antigen , environmental health
Psoriasis is an inflammatory, immune‐mediated disease of the skin. Several studies have suggested that natural killer ( NK ) cells and their receptors may be important for its pathogenesis. Here, we examined whether deletion of the activating natural killer receptor gene NKG 2C, which has a frequency of 20% in the European population, was associated with psoriasis susceptibility. The NKG 2C deletion and a functional polymorphism in its ligand HLA ‐E were genotyped in a Caucasian cohort of 611 psoriasis cases and 493 controls. We found that the NKG 2C deletion was significantly increased in cases compared with controls [0.258 vs 0.200, P = 0.0012, OR = 1.43 (1.15–1.79)]. The low‐expressing HLA ‐E*01:01 allele was associated with psoriasis ( P = 0.0018), although this association was dependent on HLA ‐C. Our findings support a potential immunoregulatory role for NK cells in psoriasis and suggest the importance of future studies to investigate the contribution of NK cells and their regulatory receptors to the pathogenesis of psoriasis.