Detection of perforin and granzyme B mRNA expressing cells in lichen sclerosus

Female Urethral Stricture Caused by Lichen Sclerosus: An Uncommon Presentation

Lichen sclerosus is an inflammatory disease of the mucocutaneous region. The etiology of lichen sclerosus is not well explained. Lichen sclerosus is more common in females and generally involves the genital area. Urethral involvement in lichen sclerosus is uncommon in females. Males have a higher propensity for urethral involvement in lichen sclerosus. Here we report a case of a 50-year-old female with lichen sclerosus and urethral stricture. Buccal mucosal graft urethroplasty was done. The success rate of urethroplasty is low in patients with lichen sclerosus. Meatal sparing urethroplasty is usually not recommended in females with urethral strictures associated with lichen sclerosus. Our patient was asymptomatic at six months of follow-up.

Granzyme B in Autoimmune Skin Disease

Autoimmune diseases often present with cutaneous symptoms that contribute to dysfunction, disfigurement, and in many cases, reduced quality-of-life. Unfortunately, treatment options for many autoimmune skin diseases are limited. Local and systemic corticosteroids remain the current standard-of-care but are associated with significant adverse effects. Hence, there is an unmet need for novel therapies that block molecular drivers of disease in a local and/or targeted manner. Granzyme B (GzmB) is a serine protease with known cytotoxic activity and emerging extracellular functions, including the cleavage of cell-cell junctions, basement membranes, cell receptors, and other structural proteins. While minimal to absent in healthy skin, GzmB is markedly elevated in alopecia areata, interface dermatitis, pemphigoid disease, psoriasis, systemic sclerosis, and vitiligo. This review will discuss the role of GzmB in immunity, blistering, apoptosis, and barrier dysfunction in the context of autoimmune skin disease. GzmB plays a causal role in the development of pemphigoid disease and carries diagnostic and prognostic significance in cutaneous lupus erythematosus, vitiligo, and alopecia areata. Taken together, these data support GzmB as a promising therapeutic target for autoimmune skin diseases impacted by impaired barrier function, inflammation, and/or blistering.

Vulvar vitiligo and lichen sclerosus in children: A clinical challenge

Vulvar vitiligo (VV) and vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS), both feature skin and mucosal hypo-/depigmentation. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and dermoscopic features of VV and VLS in the pediatric population, providing diagnostic clues, and to define their association. We performed a systematic literature review of the clinical and dermoscopic features of pediatric VV and VLS. An observational study was conducted on children affected by VLS associated with VV, referred to the Dermatology Unit of the Sant'Orsola Polyclinic in Bologna, Italy. Medical history, age at diagnosis, ethnicity, clinical and dermoscopic features, and symptoms were recorded for all patients. 124 cases of VLS and 10 cases of VV were reviewed. Clinical manifestations included hypo-/depigmented patches in both conditions, while ecchymosis/purpura and fissures/erosion were observed in VLS. Symptoms including pruritus, pain, or burning were reported only by VLS patients. In our study five patients with VLS associated with VV were retrieved. Clinical features included well-demarcated depigmented patches in VV and translucent areas, erythema, ecchymoses/purpura, and labial fusion in VLS. Dermoscopy showed white structureless areas with a whipped cream-like appearance, linear or dotted vessels, white chrysalis-like structures, erosion and red-purpuric blotches in VLS and reduced pigment network or pigment absence, intralesional spots of residual pigmentation and telangiectasias in VV. Symptoms were present in all patients. Both VV and VLS show hypo-/depigmented patches. In the presence of associated symptoms, possible VLS should be investigated with clinical and dermoscopic examination to achieve a prompt diagnosis.

Genomic Profiling of Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus Patients Shows Possible Pathogenetic Disease Mechanisms

OBJECTIVE

Vulvar lichen sclerosus (LS) is known to occur in families, suggesting a genetic link. Genomic profiling of patients with vulvar LS was investigated to find underlying pathogenetic mechanisms, with the hope that targeted therapies and future clinical research will arise.

METHODS

Two unrelated families with vulvar LS were investigated using whole-exome sequencing. Five affected sisters from 1 family were compared with their unaffected paternal aunt (unaffected control). A mother-daughter pair from a second affected family was compared with the first family. The results of the sequencing were compared with population-specific allele frequency databases to prioritize potential variants contributing to vulvar LS development.

RESULTS

Recurrent germ-line variants in 4 genes were identified as likely to be deleterious to proper protein function in all of the 7 affected patients, but not in the unaffected control. The genes with variants included CD177 (neutrophil activation), CD200 (inhibitory signal to macrophages), ANKRD18A (ankyrin repeat protein, epigenetic regulation), and LATS2 (co-repressor of androgen signaling).

CONCLUSIONS

Although many providers may see a mother and daughter with vulvar LS, this condition is rarely seen in multiple family members who are available for genetic testing. This is the first report to detail genomic profiling related to a familial association of vulvar LS.

Skin resident memory CD8+ T cells are phenotypically and functionally distinct from circulating populations and lack immediate cytotoxic function

The in-depth understanding of skin resident memory CD8+ T lymphocytes (TRM ) may help to uncover strategies for their manipulation during disease. We investigated isolated TRM from healthy human skin, which expressed the residence marker CD69, and compared them to circulating CD8+ T cell populations from the same donors. There were significantly increased proportions of CD8+ CD45RA- CD27- T cells in the skin that expressed low levels of killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1), CD57, perforin and granzyme B. The CD8+ TRM in skin were therefore phenotypically distinct from circulating CD8+ CD45RA- CD27- T cells that expressed high levels of all these molecules. Nevertheless, the activation of CD8+ TRM with T cell receptor (TCR)/CD28 or interleukin (IL)-2 or IL-15 in vitro induced the expression of granzyme B. Blocking signalling through the inhibitory receptor programmed cell death 1 (PD)-1 further boosted granzyme B expression. A unique feature of some CD8+ TRM cells was their ability to secrete high levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α and IL-2, a cytokine combination that was not seen frequently in circulating CD8+ T cells. The cutaneous CD8+ TRM are therefore diverse, and appear to be phenotypically and functionally distinct from circulating cells. Indeed, the surface receptors used to distinguish differentiation stages of blood T cells cannot be applied to T cells in the skin. Furthermore, the function of cutaneous TRM appears to be stringently controlled by environmental signals in situ.

Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus

Vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) is a chronic inflammatory dermatosis characterized by ivory-white plaques or patches with glistening surface commonly affecting the vulva and anus. Common symptoms are irritation, soreness, dyspareunia, dysuria, and urinary or fecal incontinence. Anogenital lichen sclerosus (LS) is characterized by porcelain-white atrophic plaques, which may become confluent extending around the vulval and perianal skin in a figure of eight configuration. Thinning and shrinkage of the genital area make coitus, urination, and defecation painful. LS is not uncommon in India and present as an itchy vulvar dermatosis which a gynecologist may mistake for candidal vulvovaginitis. There is often a delay in diagnosis of VLS due to its asymptomatic nature and lack of awareness in patients as well as physicians. Embarrassment of patients due to private nature of the disease and failure to examine the genital skin properly are the other reasons for delay in diagnosis. There is no curative treatment for LS. Various medications available only relieve the symptoms. Chronic nature of the disease affects the quality of life. Proper and regular follow-up is required as there are chances of the development of squamous cell carcinoma.

Induced liver allograft immunological tolerance in rats by intramuscular injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus-human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 immunoglobulin (rAAV-hCTLA4Ig)

Induction of liver allograft immunological tolerance was performed in rats by intramuscular injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus-human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 immunoglobulin (rAAV-hCTLA4Ig). Dark Agouti and Lewis rats were liver allograft donors and recipients, respectively, in four groups: (A) syngeneic control, (B) blank control, (C) rAAV-enhanced green fluorescent protein negative control, (D) rAAV-hCTLA4Ig. Gene transfers occurred 6 weeks before transplantation. Group D had a significantly longer liver graft survival time (> 100 days) than groups B (11.9 +/- 1.3 days) and C (11.6 +/- 1.1 days). Groups B and C showed severe rejection responses and large amounts of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-lymphocyte infiltration, while only a mild response and few T-lymphocytes were observed in group D. There were no significant differences in interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma levels in liver grafts between groups D and C, but there were significant decreases in granzyme B and lymphotoxin beta levels in group D compared with group C. It is concluded that immunological tolerance to liver allograft could be achieved by gene transfer of rAAV-hCTLA4Ig through intramuscular injection.

Intracellular versus extracellular granzyme B in immunity and disease: challenging the dogma

The cytotoxic granzyme B (GrB)/perforin pathway has been traditionally viewed as a primary mechanism that is used by cytotoxic lymphocytes to eliminate allogeneic, virally infected and/or transformed cells. Although originally proposed to have intracellular and extracellular functions, upon the discovery that perforin, in combination with GrB, could induce apoptosis, other potential functions for this protease were, for the most part, disregarded. As there are 5 granzymes in humans and 11 granzymes in mice, many studies used perforin knockout mice as an initial screen to evaluate the role of granzymes in disease. However, in recent years, emerging clinical and biochemical evidence has shown that the latter approach may have overlooked a critical perforin-independent, pathogenic role for these proteases in disease. This review focuses on GrB, the most characterized of the granzyme family, in disease. Long known to be a pro-apoptotic protease expressed by cytotoxic lymphocytes and natural killer cells, it is now accepted that GrB can be expressed in other cell types of immune and nonimmune origin. To the latter, an emerging immune-independent role for GrB has been forwarded due to recent discoveries that GrB may be expressed in nonimmune cells such as smooth muscle cells, keratinocytes, and chondrocytes in certain disease states. Given that GrB retains its activity in the blood, can cleave extracellular matrix, and its levels are often elevated in chronic inflammatory diseases, this protease may be an important contributor to certain pathologies. The implications of sustained elevations of intracellular and extracellular GrB in chronic vascular, dermatological, and neurological diseases, among others, are developing. This review examines, for the first time, the multiple roles of GrB in disease pathogenesis.