Cloning of the Laminin α3 Chain Gene (LAMA3) and Identification of a Homozygous Deletion in a Patient with Herlitz Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa

Laminin 5 and laminin 6 are basement membrane proteins synthesized by the basal cells of stratifying squamous epithelia. Altered expression of laminin 5 has been associated with Herlitz junctional epidermolysis bullosa (H-JEB), a severe epidermal blistering disorder inherited as an autosomal recessive disease. We have isolated cDNA clones encoding the α3 chain of laminin 5 and searched for mutations in the LAMA3 gene in H-JEB patients. In one H-JEB family, an affected individual exhibited drastically reduced immunoreactivity to antibodies directed against the α3 chain of laminin 5 and an impaired expression of the corresponding mRNA transcripts. RT-PCR analysis of mRNA extracted from the proband's keratinocytes identified a homozygous single basepair deletion in the transcripts encoding the laminin α3A and α3B isoforms. The mutation causes a frameshift and premature termination codon in both alleles of the LAMA3 gene. Inheritance of the clinical H-JEB phenotype was consistent with the segregation of the mutated allele in the family. We also report the identity of the α chains of laminin 5 and epiligrin and provide evidence that LAMA3 transcripts are distinct from the laminin 6 α chain mRNA.