Fn14 deficiency ameliorates psoriasis-like skin disease in a murine model

Psoriasis-like disease was induced by daily application of 5% imiquimod (IMQ) cream to the shaved back of mice. The vehicle cream-treated mice were the controls. Skin tissue was harvested on day 7. a Psoriasis-like lesion was observed on days 0 to 7. b Skin lesion was evaluated for PASI scores; *p？<？0.001, compared with the other groups. c, d The HE-stained sections were evaluated by HPSS method. The total HPSS scores were 22.35？±？1.09 vs 5.40？±？0.92 (IMQ-treated WT vs IMQ-treated KO), with p value？<？0.001. e The epidermal thickness was measured on HE-stained sections. f By immunohistochemistry or TUNEL method, the sections were detected for the TWEAK and Fn14 expressions, Ki-67-positive cells, or apoptotic cells (green, indicated by arrowheads). g, h The epidermal intensities (% positivity) were quantitated by ImageJ software. i, j The percentages of Ki-67-positive or apoptotic cells were counted accordingly. Representative images are shown; n？=？5 in each group. Bar？=？20？μm. In (b, d, e, g, h, i, j), the IMQ-treated KO group had values different from the two vehicle groups since day 3 (p？<？0.05