Over-expression of Wnt5a in mouse epidermis causes no psoriasis phenotype but an impairment of hair follicle anagen development.

Increased Wnt5a expression has been observed in psoriatic plaques. However, whether Wnt5a over-expression directly causes psoriasis is unknown. In this study, we generated transgenic (TG) mice with epidermal Wnt5a over-expression under the control of the human K14 promoter. The skin of Wnt5a TG mice was not psoriatic, but characterized with normal proliferation and homeostasis of epidermis. Instead, these TG mice displayed impaired hair follicle transition from telogen to anagen, most likely due to impaired canonical Wnt signaling. These results suggest that increased Wnt5a expression alone is inadequate to induce psoriasis in the skin and possible involvement of Wnt5a in hair follicle cycling. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.