Lipoid proteinosis: clinical features and electron microscopic study

Molecular analysis of lipoid proteinosis: identification of a novel nonsense mutation in the ECM1 gene in a Pakistani family

Lipoid proteinosis is a rare autosomal recessive disease characterized by cutaneous and mucosal lesions and hoarseness appearing in early childhood that is caused by homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in the ECM1 gene located on chromosome 1q21. The aim of the study was to investigate the molecular genetic defect underlying lipoid proteinosis in a consanguineous Pakistani family.

Severe short stature: an unusual finding in lipoid proteinosis

Lipoid proteinosis (LP) is a rare disorder and it can affect every organ in the body. The clinical manifestations of LP may vary considerably between affected individuals. Short stature is reported in patients with LP however the underlying etiology is not clear. Short stature may be due to endocrine dysfunction caused by deposition of hyaline-like material in endocrine glands. We investigated a 13 year old patient with LP (507 delT mutation) who had severe short stature. He had hoarseness since the age of one year, followed by characteristic skin lesions for LP and short stature. There was no pathology with respect to endocrinological investigations in our patient including growth hormone-IGF axis. Our results show that short stature in LP can not be explained by endocrinological abnormalities. Short stature may be an intrinsic component of the syndrome.

Extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) is over-expressed in malignant epithelial tumors

The extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1) is a secreted protein that has been implicated with cell proliferation, angiogenesis and differentiation. In the present study, we used immunohistochemical staining to examine the expression of ECM1 in a panel of human tumors and found that it was closely correlated with some types of tumors including: invasive breast ductal carcinoma (83%), esophageal squamous carcinoma (73%), gastric cancer (88%) and colorectal cancer (78%). Significantly, ECM1expression was correlated with the metastatic properties of the tumors. Primary breast cancers that had formed metastases were 76% positive while those that had not metastasized were only 33% positive. ECM1 expression was also correlated with PCNA a marker for proliferation, but not with CD34, a marker for endothelial cells. These results indicate that ECM1 tends to be preferentially expressed by metastatic epithelial tumors.