Stress signalling and STAT1 activation characterize the keratinocytic gene expression pattern in Hidradenitis suppurativa

Abstract Background The pathogenetic factors generating the innate immune signal necessary for T‐cell activation, initiation and chronification of Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS, also known as Acne inversa ) are still poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that a defective keratinocyte function critically contributes to HS disease development and progression. Objectives To elucidate the role of keratinocytes in HS lesion formation, we compared the transcriptomes of lesional and perilesional epidermis isolated from HS patients by RNA sequencing (RNA Seq). Methods Pairwise‐matched lesional and perilesional HS skin samples of five different donors were obtained and epidermal keratinocytes freshly isolated and processed for RNA extraction and RNA seq. Lesionally regulated genes were analysed by large‐scale promoter analysis and functional annotation clustering to identify epidermally overrepresented transcription factor binding sites and functionally related gene groups. Results were experimentally validated with independent epidermal isolates of patient‐matched lesional and perilesional HS skin employing qRT‐PCR, cell culture, immunoblot and immunostaining. Results We show that HS is characterized by a strong epidermal stress state evident by a significant overrepresentation of an AP‐1‐driven gene signature and a substantial activation of the stress‐activated cJun N‐terminal kinase (JNK) pathway in lesional epidermis. Additionally, our data reveal a strong induction of STAT1 activation in lesional HS epidermis that likely results from IFNγ production and triggered expression of key inflammatory genes coordinating innate immune activation and the adaptive T‐cell response in HS. Conclusions Our data implicate a key role of stress signalling and JAK/STAT1 activation in disease progression of HS and suggest interference with JAK/STAT1 signalling as a potentially promising therapeutic approach for HS.