INTEGRIN BETA-4 MUTATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH JUNCTIONAL EPIDERMOLYSIS-BULLOSA WITH PYLORIC ATRESIA

Pyloric atresia associated with junctional epidermolysis bullosa (PA-JEB), is a rare inherited disorder characterized by pyloric stenosis and blistering of the skin as primary manifestations. We demonstrate that in one PA-JEB patient the disease resulted from two distinct mutations in the beta 4 integrin gene alleles. The paternal mutation consists of a one base pair deletion causing a shift in the open reading frame, and a downstream premature termination codon. The maternal mutation occurs in a donor splice site, and results in in-frame exon skipping involving the cytoplasmic domain of the polypeptide. Our results implicate mutations in the beta 4 integrin gene in some forms of PA-JEB.