Junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB) is a rare autosomal recessive genodermatosis with a broad spectrum of phenotypes. Current genotype-phenotype paradigms are insufficient to accurately predict JEB subtype and characteristics from genotype, particularly for splice site variants, which account for over a fifth of disease-causing variants in JEB. This study evaluated the genetic and clinical findings from a JEB cohort, investigating genotype-phenotype correlations through bioinformatic analyses and comparison with previously reported variants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/objectives: Laryngo-onycho-cutaneous syndrome (LOC) is a rare subtype of junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), featuring aberrant granulation tissue formation in the skin, larynx, and eyes. So far, three mutations including the specific (founder) mutation in exon 39 of LAMA3 (c.151dup) have been identified, but sparse data exists regarding the natural history, the genotype-phenotype correlation, and its differentiation from other JEB types.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a hereditary blistering disorder due to a lack of type VII collagen. At present, treatment is mainly supportive.
Objectives: To determine whether intravenous allogeneic bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (BM-MSCs) are safe in RDEB adults and if the cells improve wound healing and quality of life.
BACKGROUNDRecessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) is a severe form of skin fragility disorder due to mutations in COL7A1 encoding basement membrane type VII collagen (C7), the main constituent of anchoring fibrils (AFs) in skin. We developed a self-inactivating lentiviral platform encoding a codon-optimized COL7A1 cDNA under the control of a human phosphoglycerate kinase promoter for phase I evaluation.METHODSIn this single-center, open-label phase I trial, 4 adults with RDEB each received 3 intradermal injections (~1 × 106 cells/cm2 of intact skin) of COL7A1-modified autologous fibroblasts and were followed up for 12 months.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous blistering skin disease, but in countries such as Kuwait, there are very limited data on the clinical and molecular pathology of EB. To improve understanding of EB in Kuwait, we report the experience of a local tertiary referral center over a 17.5 year period (January 2000-June 2017) in establishing clinical and molecular diagnoses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrainyhead-like 2, encoded by GRHL2, is a member of a highly conserved family of transcription factors that play essential roles during epithelial development. Haploinsufficiency for GRHL2 has been implicated in autosomal-dominant deafness, but mutations have not yet been associated with any skin pathology. We investigated two unrelated Kuwaiti families in which a total of six individuals have had lifelong ectodermal defects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndividuals with inherited skin diseases often pose one of the most difficult diagnostic challenges in dermatology. The hunt for the underlying molecular pathology may involve candidate gene screening or linkage analysis, which is usually determined by the initial history, the physical findings and laboratory tests. Recent technical advances in DNA sequencing, however, are shifting the diagnostic paradigm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of autosomal dominant and recessive blistering skin diseases in which pathogenic mutations have been reported in 13 different genes encoding structural proteins involved in keratinocyte integrity, as well as cell-matrix or cell-cell adhesion. We now report an inherited skin fragility disorder with a homozygous nonsense mutation in the dystonin gene (DST) that encodes the coiled-coil domain of the epithelial isoform of bullous pemphigoid antigen 1, BPAG1-e (also known as BP230). The mutation, p.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mutations in alpha6 or beta4 integrins (ITGA6, ITGB4) are known to cause junctional epidermolysis bullosa with pyloric atresia (JEB-PA), often lethal in infancy through skin desquamation. There is 1 report of pyloric atresia associated with a desquamatory enteropathy but without skin disease, of unknown molecular basis.
Patients And Methods: We report 2 Kuwaiti siblings with pyloric atresia and life-threatening intestinal desquamation without significant skin abnormality.
The mechanobullous disease Hallopeau-Siemens recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (HS-RDEB) results from mutations in the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1) on chromosome 3p21.31. Typically, there are frameshift, splice site, or nonsense mutations on both alleles.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe report on the clinical and molecular abnormalities in a 7-month-old girl and her mother with an ectodermal dysplasia disorder that most closely resembles Rapp-Hodgkin syndrome (RHS). At birth, the child had bilateral cleft palate, a narrow pinched nose, small chin, and hypoplastic nipples, and suffered from respiratory distress, feeding difficulties, and poor weight gain, although developmental progress was normal. Her mother had a cleft palate, sparse hair, high forehead, dental anomalies, a narrow nose, dysplastic nails, and reduced sweating.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF