Sex Matters: Interfering with the Oxidative Stress Response in Pachyonychia Congenita

Pachyonychia congenita is an incurable and often debilitating genodermatosis. Topical application of the antioxidative response inducer sulforaphane, however, alleviates disease symptoms in a murine pachyonychia congenita model, forecasting clinical benefits. The Coulombe laboratory now reports sex-dependent differences in sulforaphane responsiveness of pachyonychia congenita mice, thereby dampening treatment expectations but also unveiling novel aspects of sex-specific oxidative stress reactivity in the epidermis.