Università della Svizzera italiana

Pemphigus autoantibodies generated through somatic mutations target the desmoglein-3 cis-interface

Di Zenzo, Giovanni ; Di Lullo, Giulia ; Corti, Davide ; Calabresi, Valentina ; Sinistro, Anna ; Vanzetta, Fabrizia ; Didona, Biagio ; Cianchini, Giuseppe ; Hertl, Michael ; Eming, Rudiger ; Amagai, Masayuki ; Ohyama, Bungo ; Hashimoto, Takashi ; Sloostra, Jerry ; Sallusto, Federica ; Zambruno, Giovanna ; Lanzavecchia, Antonio

In: The journal of clinical investigation, 2012, vol. 122, no. 10, p. 3781-3790

Pemphigus vulgaris (PV) is an autoimmune blistering disease of skin and mucous membranes caused by autoantibodies to the desmoglein (DSG) family proteins DSG3 and DSG1, leading to loss of keratinocyte cell adhesion. To learn more about pathogenic PV autoantibodies, we isolated 15 IgG antibodies specific for DSG3 from 2 PV patients. Three antibodies disrupted keratinocyte monolayers in vitro,...