We present three unrelated patients with two identical pathogenic compound heterozygous mutations in the COL7A1 gene that developed different clinical forms of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa-epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa and mild recessive non-Hallopeau-Siemens-raising the possibility of other genetic or environmental modifying factors responsible for the phenotype of the disease.
Remarkably, identical mutations in COL7A1, which encodes an anchoring fibril protein present at the dermal-epidermal junction, can cause both DEB and EBP with either autosomal dominant or recessive inheritance.
As in all other forms of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, the molecular pathology involves mutations in the gene encoding the anchoring fibril protein, type VII collagen (COL7A1), but there is no clear genotype-phenotype correlation in EBP.
Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB) pruriginosa (DEB-Pr) is a rare variant of DEB due to COL7A1 dominant and recessive mutations, which is characterized by severe itching and lichenoid or nodular prurigo-like lesions, mainly involving the extremities.
Glycine substitution mutations by different amino acids in the same codon of COL7A1 lead to heterogeneous clinical phenotypes of dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa.
This study shows that the molecular pathology in patients with the distinctive clinical features of epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa is heterogeneous and suggests that other factors, in addition to the inherent COL7A1 mutation(s), may be responsible for an epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa phenotype.
This study shows that the molecular pathology in patients with the distinctive clinical features of epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa is heterogeneous and suggests that other factors, in addition to the inherent COL7A1 mutation(s), may be responsible for an epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa phenotype.
New glycine substitution mutations in type VII collagen underlying epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa but the phenotype is not explained by a common polymorphism in the matrix metalloproteinase-1 gene promoter.