A research team led by Professor Hong-Hee Won of the Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Sciences and Technology (SAIHST) at Sungkyunkwan University(SKKU) and Samsung Medical Center, with Researcher Hyeonbin Jo as a first author, has revealed the specific mechanisms behind the onset of psoriasis by combining large-scale genomic data from more than 1.1 million people with advanced single-cell analysis technology. The team also identified a number of genes that are potential targets for new treatments.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting about 2% of the world's population and commonly characterized by red, scaly patches on the skin. Far from being a mere surface-level skin condition, psoriasis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue. It is also known to raise the risk of systemic conditions such as arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. While genetic and cellular-level studies of psoriasis have largely advanced independently, few studies have combined large-scale genomic data with the behavior of individual cells to establish a concrete disease pathway.

To address this gap, the research team conducted an integrated meta-analysis of genomic data from more than 1.1 million people and identified 125 genetic susceptibility loci closely linked to the onset of psoriasis. Of these, 17 are new loci that had not previously been reported in genetic studies. The team then applied single-cell transcriptomic analysis to examine gene activity at single-cell resolution in skin samples from healthy individuals and psoriasis patients. Through this approach, they successfully identified the specific cell populations directly involved in the onset of the disease.

The analysis revealed complex interactions among several key cell types. Myeloid cells and T cells from the immune system interact with keratinocytes on the skin’s surface and vascular endothelial cells in the blood vessels. These cells orchestrate a signaling cascade that might drive excessive inflammation. By mapping the multi-dimensional interactions of these cells across different skin layers, the team pinpointed 50 promising therapeutic target genes for psoriasis through rigorous screening.

"This research combines large-scale genomic data with precise cellular transcriptomic analysis to clearly reveal which genetic factors and cell types are involved in psoriasis pathology." said Professor Hong-Hee Won. "We expect our findings to serve as a key milestone in developing personalized immune-modulating treatments and new drugs tailored to individual patients."

This research was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea, and was published online on August 27, 2026, in the international journal Nature Communications (IF: 18.1).