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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
10:31
Lymphocyte Isolation from Human Skin for Phenotypic Analysis and Ex Vivo Cell Culture
Published on: April 8, 2016
Expression of telomerase reverse transcriptase in psoriatic lesional skin
Moushira A Mahmoud1, Roshdy W Mohamed, Fadia M Attia
1Department of Biochemistry, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. moushiraa@yahoo.com
Disease Markers
|November 25, 2006
Summary
Telomerase mRNA is found in most psoriasis skin lesions and its levels correlate with disease severity and epidermal proliferation. This suggests telomerase may be a useful biomarker for psoriasis.
Area of Science:
- Dermatology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease with limited understanding of telomerase expression.
- Further research is needed to explore telomerase as a potential biomarker for psoriasis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) expression in psoriatic skin lesions.
- To determine the relationship between hTERT expression and psoriasis severity.
Main Methods:
- Quantification of hTERT-mRNA levels using real-time RT-PCR.
- Analysis of lesional versus nonlesional skin from 24 psoriasis patients.
Main Results:
- hTERT expression was detected in 66.7% of psoriatic lesions, but not in normal skin.
- No correlation found between hTERT levels and patient age or disease duration.
- Significant positive correlation between hTERT-mRNA levels and Psoriasis Area-and-Severity Index (PASI) and scaling scores in positive patients.
Conclusions:
- Telomerase mRNA is detectable in the majority of psoriatic lesional skin.
- hTERT expression in psoriatic skin correlates with disease severity and epidermal proliferation rate.
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