BACKGROUND: Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD) is a rare autosomal dominant skin condition. The ATP2C1 gene was identified as the defective gene in HHD. To date, 166 pathogenic mutations in ATP2C1 have been observed worldwide. The aim of this study was to identify variations in HHD and summarize the features of the mutations identified in China.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We examined 2 familial and 2 sporadic cases of HHD. Genomic DNA polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing of the ATP2C1 were performed from HHD patients, unaffected family members, and 200 healthy individuals. We also searched the published literature for data about the ATP2C1 gene using PubMed and the Chinese Biological Medicine Database.

RESULTS: We detected 3 heterozygous mutations, including 2 novel frameshift mutations (c.819insA (273LfsX) and c.1264insTAGATGG (421LfsX)) and 1 recurrent nonsense mutation (c.115C>T (R39X)). To the best of our knowledge, 90 different mutations (including our current results) have been reported in China, all of which occurred in the Chinese Han population.

CONCLUSIONS: Our data may add to the existing list of ATP2C1 mutations and provide new insight into genetic variants of HHD in China.

Keywords: DNA Mutational Analysis, Genes, vif, Organic Anion Transport Polypeptide C, Pemphigus, Benign Familial