Background: Laminin 5, an anchoring filament attachment protein within the lamina lucida of the basement membrane zone involved in the pathogenesis of junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), consists of three polypeptide subunits, the alpha 3, beta 3, and gamma 2 chains which are encoded by the LAMA3, LAMB3, and LAMC2 genes, respectively. To facilitate identification of pathogenetic mutations in LAMC2, a strategy based on direct amplification of genomic DNA by PCR or mRNA by RT-PCR, followed by heteroduplex analysis of the PCR products, was developed.
Materials and methods: Primer pairs for amplification of the complete cDNA as well as the 23 individual exons in the genomic DNA, which encode the entire gamma 2 chain of laminin 5, were established. The primers for amplification of exons from genomic DNA were positioned at least 24 bp away from the intron-exon borders in the flanking intronic sequences. For amplification of cDNA generated by RT-PCR, eight primer pairs covering overlapping segments of the entire coding sequence of LAMC2 mRNA were used. The amplified sequences were scanned for pathogenetic mutations and sequence variations in JEB patients and unrelated control individuals by heteroduplex analysis by means of conformation sensitive gel electrophoresis (CSGE).
Results: Utilizing the strategy developed in this study, we identified pathogenetic mutations in three patients with the Herlitz (lethal) variant of JEB, and eight intragenic normal polymorphisms, which are useful for linkage analysis, in the LAMC2 gene.
Conclusions: The methodology described in this study is capable of detecting single-base substitutions or small insertions and deletions in the LAMC2 gene. Demonstration of mutations in this gene in JEB patients further emphasizes the role of laminin 5 in providing integrity to the cutaneous basement membrane zone.