Characterizing susceptibility to phenotypic variations of psoriasis by comparing allelic association signals on chromosome 6

J Panko, University of Utah
Steven J. Schrodi, Celera, Inc
B Wong, University of Utah
K Callis, University of Utah
N Matsunami, University of Utah
M A. Cargill, Celera, Inc
G G. Krueger, University of Utah

Abstract

Though the existence of a genetic component of psoriasis can be easily observed, the genes predisposing patients to psoriasis and its varied morphologies remain largely unknown. Previous studies of psoriasis cases have shown disease linkage to many possible loci. The most highly significant of these has been linkage to the MHC region of chromosome 6p. But, because psoriasis is a complex multi-genic disease with a variable expression pattern, it is unlikely that any one locus is responsible for all forms of psoriasis. We propose that when psoriasis cases are stratified into phenotypic pools, variants of psoriasis can more clearly differentiated from age and gender matched controls by comparing the allelic association peaks of markers on chromosome 6 between the two groups. For this analysis we collected phenotypic and genetic data using the Utah Psoriasis Initiative (UPI). The UPI was established to classify subtypes of psoriasis based upon observable and patient-reported characteristics. By stratifying psoriasis cases by known phenotypes of disease we can facilitate the identification of loci where cases vary more distinctly from controls and therefore begin to localize genes responsible for phenotypic characteristics of psoriasis.