Keratinocyte autophagy in psoriasis: A comprehensive review

Psoriasis is one of the most common inflammatory skin diseases, and its pathogenesis of psoriasis involves substantial biological abnormalities in keratinocytes, including dysregulated proliferation, impaired differentiation, and aberrant secretion of inflammatory factors. Multiple studies have demonstrated that dysregulated keratinocyte autophagy contributes to the pathogenesis of psoriasis. In the inflammatory milieu of psoriasis, keratinocytes exhibit abnormal expression of various autophagy-related regulatory molecules. Many interventions have alleviated psoriasis-like inflammation and restored normal autophagy regulation in keratinocytes, emphasizing the role of keratinocyte autophagy in modulating psoriatic inflammation. The disruption of autophagy homeostasis is likely a key factor contributing to the abnormal biological behavior of keratinocytes in this disease, while there is ongoing debate regarding the precise changes in keratinocyte autophagy levels in psoriasis, therefor this review summarizes the discrepant findings regarding the expression levels of key autophagy molecules in keratinocytes across psoriasis studies, with the aim of enhancing understanding of their regulatory mechanisms and functional roles in psoriatic pathogenesis.