M. Hailey-Hailey: hSPCA1 Expression and Skin Structure Upon Laser Therapy

Hailey-Hailey disease is a genetic acantholytic dermatosis characterized by continuous erosion of the skin that results in a burning, painful sensation and restricts the patient in daily life. This disorder results from a genetic defect in a calcium pump, i.e. the hSPCA1 pump. Calcium pumps are crucial for the processing of cell-cell adhesion proteins such as E-cadherin, part of desmosomes, the major glue between keratinocytes in skin epidermis. Today therapy is mainly focussed on symptom relief and prevention of secondary infection. Ablative laser therapy is known to result in a speedy healing of the affected skin site within 2 weeks following laser therapy. The fact that the treated skin site remains clear from this acantholytic disorder in the months/years following ablation, regardless the existence of a germline mutation, suggests that an epigenetic modification occurs in the process of wound healing. Objective: to (1) study the expression of hSPCA1 in keratinocytes before and after laser therapy and (2) verify the loss of acantholysis by immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy of cell-cell adhesions before and after laser therapy