A 42-year-old man presents with a 6-month history of well-demarcated erythematous plaques on his elbows and knees. On examination, the lesions are covered with a **silvery-white adherent scale (marked B in the diagram)**. When the scale is gently scraped off, pinpoint bleeding is observed. The patient reports that similar lesions appeared on his forearm after a minor cut sustained 3 weeks ago. Which of the following best describes the pathophysiological basis for the silvery-white scale appearance in this condition?