Characterization of the cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 gene as an early-transcribed gene with a putative role in the pathophysiology of Sjögren's syndrome.

Objective: To identify genes that may participate in the pathophysiology of Sjögren's syndrome (SS), the technique of differential display was applied to labial minor salivary gland (MSG) biopsy samples.

Methods: Total RNA was isolated from MSG biopsy samples from a woman with primary SS and a control subject, and the differential display protocol with 8 different random oligonucleotide primers was performed. One particular differentially expressed fragment showed 98% homology with the cysteine-rich secretory protein 3 (CRISP-3) gene.