Host DNA Released by Keratinocyte Apoptosis Binds LL-37 and Activates Dendrocytes
Psoriasis is an inflammation of the skin that leads to overproduction of keratinocytes resulting in a thick crust. Skin inflammation, in this case, is considered a result of autoimmunity, but an autoantigen has not been identified. It is more likely that psoriasis results from an autoinflammatory condition, in which inflammation produces a complex of self molecules that mimic bacterial DNA and trigger TLR/NFkB inflammation signaling. And of course, if this is going to be interesting, it has to involve heparin.
Vitamin D Binds to a Transcription Factor Receptor that Controls Antimicrobial PeptidesA significant component of the innate immune system is a group of antimicrobial peptide (defensins, cathelicidins, e.g. LL-37). These short polypeptides owe their natural antibiotic activity to numerous basic (positively charged, arginine and lysine) amino acids. The transcription factor that controls the expression of these peptides is the vitamin D receptor. Thus, various forms of vitamin D influence the amount of antimicrobial peptides produced in the mouth, skin and crypts of the intestinal villi. Oral vitamin D3 would be expected to directly improve defensin production in the gut and LL-37 production in the skin.
IL-17 Stimulates Skin Inflammation and LL-37 ProductionA specific group of lymphocytes, called T helper 17 cells, produce IL-17. These Th17 cells accumulate in some sites of inflammation, such as psoriasis and their secretion of IL-17 is associated with ongoing inflammation and may contribute to LL-37 production, as well as apoptosis of keratinocytes in the thickening skin of psoriasis plaques.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19623255?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_SingleItemSupl.Pubmed_Discovery_PMC&linkpos=2&log$=citedinpmcarticles&logdbfrom=pubmedTh17 Cells Are Produced in the Gut in Response to Segmented BacteriaOne of my readers brought to my attention an article that shows that one of the hundreds of species of gut bacteria, segmented filamentous baceria, stimulates the gut to develop T helper 17 cells that subsequently migrate to sites of inflammation.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Gastroenterology/InflammatoryBowelDisease/16472This emphasizes the link between the gut and inflammatory diseases and parallels other examples of gut influence on disease, such as the ability of Helicobacter pylori to affect asthma or parasitic worms to tame Crohn’s disease, allergies and asthma.
Inflammation Lowers Heparan Sulfate Production and Spreads LL-37One of my students induced inflammation in cells in vitro and showed by quantitative PCR that genes involved in heparan sulfate proteoglycan production are selectively silenced. This observation explains in part the loss of heparan sulfate in kidneys and intestines that contributes to the leakiness of these organs in response to inflammation and the partial repair of these organs by heparin treatment. Decrease of heparan sulfate that normally coats cells and binds antimicrobial peptides, such as LL-37, would explain the enhanced movement of LL-37 in psoriatic skin.
LL-37 Binds to Host DNA and Triggers Toll-Like ReceptorsDNA is released from keratinocytes in psoriatic skin and this host DNA binds the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin LL-37. The LL-37/DNA complex mimics bacterial DNA and triggers the Toll-like receptors (TLR) on the surface of immune cells, dendrocytes, to activate NFkB, the transcription factor controlling inflammation.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19050268?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_SingleItemSupl.Pubmed_Discovery_RA&linkpos=1&log$=relatedarticles&logdbfrom=pubmedHeparin Treats PsoriasisIt seemed obvious to me that the heparin binding domains (Look at all the basic amino acids in blue in the illustration of LL-37.) of LL-37 were involved in DNA binding and the reason the LL-37 was binding to host DNA, was that heparan sulfate had been depleted as a result of local inflammation. It also seemed obvious that topical heparin should eliminate psoriasis plaques. So I did a Google search of psoriasis + topical heparin and got a hit on a 1991 patent application that claims a broad applicability for heparin use in curing symptoms of a wide variety of diseases, including psoriasis.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5037810/description.htmlThe only topical form of heparin that I know of is Lipactin (available in Canada and Europe?), a treatment for coldsores, which makes sense because herpes viruses use heparan sulfate to infect cells.