Bullous pemphigoid antigen (BPAG1): cDNA cloning and mapping of the gene to the short arm of human chromosome 6.

Bullous pemphigoid antigen (BPAG1), an integral component of the cutaneous basement membrane zone, serves as autoantigen in a blistering disease, bullous pemphigoid. In this study, we have generated cDNAs corresponding to human BPAG1 sequences. Two cDNAs, a 0.45-kb PCR product synthesized with human keratinocyte RNA as template and a 2.2-kb cDNA isolated from human keratinocyte lambda gt11 library, were utilized for chromosomal in situ hybridizations to establish the genomic location of the BPAG1 gene. Metaphase chromosomes of phytohemagglutinin-stimulated human peripheral blood leukocytes were examined by hybridizations with 3H-labeled cDNAs, and the chromosomes were identified by R-banding (fluorochrome-photolysis-Giemsa method). The results indicated that the human BPAG1 gene is at locus 6p11-6p12. This conclusion was supported by hybridizations with a panel of human X rodent hybrid cell DNA, which indicated concordance with human chromosome 6. Because different genes encoding human basement membrane components have been mapped previously to chromosomes other than 6, the results further indicate that human basement membrane zone genes are widely dispersed within the human genome.