Summary
In the psoriatic skin, nexus were most prominent in the upper layers of the viable epidermis, using the Alcian blue-Lanthanum technique. There, they reached double and manifold the length (giant nexus) of those in normal epidermis. According to the villous transformation of the epidermal cell suface in psoriasis, the nexus showed a great variation in their shape. Undulating nexus were seen beside invagination-and anular nexus. On the other hand, nexus were lacking in the deepest layers of the psoriatic epidermis in contrast to normal epidermis.
From these findings it seems that the intercellular communication by specialized low resistant junctions is reduced in the deepest layers of the psoriatic epidermis. In the upper epidermal layers, however, the extensive formation and the variable configuration of the nexus express a high synthetic activity and a well developed intercellular information in these areas of the psoriatic epidermis.
Zusammenfassung
Innerhalb psoriatischer Efflorescenzen wurden spezialisierte Kontaktzonen (Nexus) am ausgeprägtesten in den oberen epidermalen Zellagen beobachtet. Sie waren relativ lang und erreichten häufig die doppelte und mehrfache Länge (“giant nexus”) derjenigen in der normalen Epidermis. Entsprechend der villösen Auffaltung der psoriatischen Zelloberflächer zeigten die Nexus eine wechselnde Gestalt. Wellenförmige Nexus kamen neben Invaginations-nexus und ringförmigen Nexus vor. Allerdings fehlten, im Gegensatz zur normalen Epidermis, die Nexus in den unteren Zellagen der psoriatischen Epidermis.
Auf Grund dieser Befunde scheint, im Vergleich zur normalen Epidermis, einerseits die intercelluläre Kommunikation über spezialisierte, widerstandsarme Zellverbindungen in den unteren Zellagen der psoriatischen Epidermis vermindert zu sein. Andererseits weist die übermäßige Bildung und die Gestaltungsvielfalt der Nexus in den oberen Zellagen der Epidermis auf eine gesteigerte synthetische Aktivität und einen intensiven Informationsaustausch in diesem Bereich der psoriatischen Epidermis hin.
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Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Grant no. Ma 674/1
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Mahrle, G. Demonstration of giant and anular nexus in the psoriatic epidermis. Arch Dermatol Res 261, 181–188 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447163
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00447163