The quest for psoriasis susceptibility genes in the postgenome-wide association studies era: charting the road ahead

The International Psoriasis Council, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing psoriasis research and treatment, organized its inaugural genetics workshop in Montreal, on 12 October 2011. The presentations included a summary of the remarkable progress achieved through the implementation of genome-wide association studies, which have highlighted key pathogenic pathways for psoriasis. Ongoing meta-analyses are identifying further susceptibility genes, bringing the number of known loci close to 40. The functional characterization of low-risk alleles is proving problematic, but next-generation sequencing approaches are expected to identify rare deleterious variants, which will be easier to investigate. Elucidating the genetic architecture of psoriasis will have major implications in terms of understanding disease mechanisms and predicting response to treatment.