Association with a malignancy has been shown in paraneoplastic pemphigus (in 100%) and anti-laminin 332 mucous pemphigoid (in 25%) In pemphigus vulgaris, pemphigus foliaceus, and bullous pemphigoid, autoantibodies to desmoglein 3, desmoglein 1, and BP180, respectively, have been shown to correlate with the disease activity.
A combination of standard immunohistochemical techniques, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with desmoglein (DSG) baculoproteins, and an immunoprecipitation assay were used to characterize effectors of humoral and cellular autoimmunity in patients with PNP and in neonatal wild-type and DSG3-knockout mice with PNP phenotype induced by passive transfer of patients' IgGs.