Targeted therapies restore skin barrier function and associated proteomics in atopic dermatitis

ABSTRACT: Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is characterized by skin barrier dysfunction. The impact of targeted therapies on skin barrier function and associated barrier protein changes remains not fully identified. Objective: To investigate the skin barrier function and proteomics in AD before and after different targeted therapies. Method: 15 healthy controls and 29 adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD were enrolled. AD patients were randomized into two groups. One group received dupilumab (N = 14) and the other received abrocitinib (N = 15). Clinical assessments and skin barrier parameters (transepidermal water loss [TEWL] and hydration) were measured at baseline, 4 weeks, and 12 weeks of treatment. Skin tape strips were collected for four-dimensional data-independent acquisition-based proteomics. Results: Both therapies improved skin barrier function, with abrocitinib showing greater effects on decreasing TEWL in the non-lesional skin. The proteomic analysis identified 1237 lesional and 785 non-lesional differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) between AD patients and healthy controls, especially in pathways related to ceramide metabolism, neurobiology, and keratinocyte biology. Treatment with abrocitinib resulted in more DEPs and significantly upregulated proteins associated with the epidermal barrier while downregulating immunological and itch-related proteins. It also increased key barrier proteins (filaggrin-2 and loricrin) in lesional skin, which was not shown in the dupilumab group. Both treatments regulated specific proteins in non-lesional skin, such as grancalcin and phospholipase D3. Conclusion: The study suggests that both targeted therapies improve the skin barrier function in AD, but they have different effects on barrier proteins, with abrocitinib having stronger effects.

INSTRUMENT(S): timsTOF Pro

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

TISSUE(S): Skin

SUBMITTER: Xiaobao Huang  

LAB HEAD: Fang Wang

PROVIDER: PXD055561 | Pride | 2025-04-19

REPOSITORIES: Pride