A novel splice site mutation in collagen type VII gene in a Chinese family with dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa.

Dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa, a subtype of epidermolysis bullosa dystrophica and a heterogeneous inherited disease, is characterized by pruritus, excoriated nodular prurigo-like lesions, skin fragility, altered anchoring fibrils and loss of dermal-epidermal adhesion. Mutation in type VII collagen gene (COL7A1) is thought to be implicated in the underlying change for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa. We report here a large family of dominant dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa. Mutation analysis using polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing demonstrated a novel nucleotide substitution of 6899A-->G in exon 87 in one COL7A1 allele of the proband and 18 affected family members. This substitution was not found in 100 normal alleles. Polymerase chain reaction and sequencing of the cDNA, reverse transcribed from the proband's peripheral lymphocyte RNA, suggest that this mutation causes aberrant COL7A1 mRNA splicing of exon 87 skipping. Clinical features and pedigree analysis suggest that 6899A-->G substitution is a mutation with full penetrance and variable expressivity.