Systemic Sclerosis
Conditions
Keywords
arthritis & connective tissue diseases, rare disease, systemic sclerosis
Brief summary
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether defects in fibrillin-1 cellular processing are present in the tsk1 mouse model that carries a known FBN1 gene rearrangement and in a population of Choctaw Native American patients with systemic sclerosis who have a strong genetic predisposition to the disease. II. Determine the ultrastructural features of fibrillin-1 in these patients. III. Screen the FBN1 gene for mutations beginning at the regions homologous to the tsk1 duplication and latent transforming growth factor binding proteins in these patients and in an unaffected Choctaw control group. IV. Determine the correlation between fibrillin-1 abnormalities and clinical presentation, autoantibodies, and ethnicity.
Detailed description
PROTOCOL OUTLINE: Patients undergo punch skin biopsy obtained from the upper arm or back. Studies of fibrillin-1 synthesis and cellular processing, and FBN1 mutational analysis, linkage analysis, and genetic mapping are performed on the tissue samples. Patients from all major US ethnic groups (Caucasian, Hispanic, African Americans) will be recruited for the study in the next 2 years.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
University of Texas
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
0 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: --Disease Characteristics-- Diagnosis of systemic sclerosis in accordance with the American College of Rheumatology preliminary criteria Positive for systemic sclerosis antibodies (e.g., anticentromere, antitopo, antifibrillarin, or antiRNA polymerase)
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed