Psoriatic skin inflammation is promoted by c-Jun/AP-1-dependent CCL2 and IL-23 expression in dendritic cells

Toll-like receptor (TLR) stimulation induces innate immune responses involved in many inflammatory disorders including psoriasis. Although activation of the AP-1 transcription factor complex is common in TLR signaling, the specific involvement and induced targets remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the role of c-Jun/AP-1 protein in skin inflammation following TLR7 activation using human psoriatic skin, dendritic cells (DC), and genetically engineered mouse models. We show that c-Jun regulates CCL2 production in DCs leading to impaired recruitment of plasmacytoid DCs to inflamed skin after treatment with the TLR7/8 agonist Imiquimod. Furthermore, deletion of c-Jun in DCs or chemical blockade of JNK/c-Jun signaling ameliorates psoriasis-like skin inflammation by reducing IL-23 production in DCs. Importantly, the control of IL-23 and CCL2 by c-Jun is most pronounced in murine type-2 DCs. CCL2 and IL-23 expression co-localize with c-Jun in type-2/inflammatory DCs in human psoriatic skin and JNK-AP-1 inhibition reduces the expression of these targets in TLR7/8-stimulated human DCs. Therefore, c-Jun/AP-1 is a central driver of TLR7-induced immune responses by DCs and JNK/c-Jun a potential therapeutic target in psoriasis.