A single-cell atlas of IL-23 inhibition in cutaneous psoriasis distinguishes clinical response

Abstract

Psoriasis vulgaris and other chronic inflammatory diseases improve markedly with therapeutic blockade of interleukin-23 (IL-23) signaling, but the genetic mechanisms underlying clinical responses remain poorly understood. Using single-cell transcriptomics, we profiled immune cells isolated from lesional psoriatic skin before and during IL-23 blockade. In clinically responsive patients, a psoriatic transcriptional signature in skin-resident memory T cells was strongly attenuated. In contrast, poorly responsive patients were distinguished by persistent activation of IL-17–producing T (T17) cells, a mechanism distinct from alternative cytokine signaling or resistance isolated to epidermal keratinocytes. Even in IL-23 blockade–responsive patients, we detected a recurring set of recalcitrant, disease-specific transcriptional abnormalities. This irreversible immunological state may necessitate ongoing IL-23 inhibition. Spatial transcriptomic analyses also suggested that successful IL-23 blockade requires dampening of >90% of IL-17–induced response in lymphocyte-adjacent keratinocytes, an unexpectedly high threshold. Collectively, our data establish a patient-level paradigm for dissecting responses to immunomodulatory treatments.