Cytofluorometric study of lectin binding to the keratinocytes of epidermolysis bullosa simplex.

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) simplex is a congenital disease that has blister formation following minor mechanical trauma to the skin. The least amount of information concerning the pathogenesis is known in this disease. One possibility is that there are structural abnormalities in keratinocytes. In the present study, we report the binding of lectin (Ricinus communis agglutinin, Peanut agglutinin, and Soybean agglutinin) to keratinocytes using cytofluorometry. Biopsy skin specimens were taken from patients with simplex, junctional, and dystrophic forms of EB, and normal volunteers. Free keratinocytes were obtained by the treatment of EDTA and trypsin, and fractionated by centrifugation on a continuous colloidal silica (Percoll) density gradient. Fractionated basal cells were stained with biotinyl lectins and avidin-FITC, and measured by cytofluorometry. In all lectins examined, the intensity was low in the basal cells of EB simplex, as compared with normal controls. However, there were no differences among the other forms of EB and normal controls. This results suggest the presence of structural abnormalities in epidermis of EB simplex.