1.2 K14-VEGF-A-Tg mouse psoriasis model and therapy
All animal experiments were performed in accordance with the National
Research
Council’s Guide
for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. K14-VEGF-A-Tg homozygous
mice overexpressing VEGF in the epidermis were used for the experiments,
and these mice spontaneously developed a chronic inflammatory skin
disease with many features similar to those observed in human psoriasis
(Xia, Li, Hylton, Detmar, Yancopoulos & Rudge, 2003). These mice were
provided by Professor Jiong Li from the State Key Laboratory of
Biotherapy and Cancer Center (Chengdu, China). K14-VEGF-A-Tg homozygous
mice (10 weeks old, psoriasis-like symptoms began to appear) were
randomly assigned to two groups (n = 5 per group). Each mouse was
subjected to a total of 10 intravenous (i.v.) injections of either
phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (control) or 5 μg IL-35 recombinant
protein (10705-H02H, Sino Biological, Beijing, China) every other day.
At 24 h after the last injection, the animals were anaesthetised using
50 μL of chloral hydrate (10 %; intraperitoneal injection, Tianjin
Regent Chemicals Co., LTD, Tianjin, China) for macroscopic photography.
The animals were then euthanised, and psoriatic lesion tissues were
collected. All procedures were performed at the Jining Medical
University.