[The significance of desmosomes in pathology]

Considerable progress has been made in our knowledge of desmosomes and their components. Molecular cloning of the desmosomal glycoproteins has established that desmoglein 1 and desmoglein 3 are targets for autoantibodies in the blistering diseases pemphigus foliaceus and pemphigus vulgaris respectively. New evidence suggests that another desmosomal glycoprotein, desmocollin 1, is the major target antigen in the upper epidermal form of intercellular IgA dermatosis. In human cancer there is accumulating evidence which suggests a role for desmosomes in the prevention of the invasion and metastasis. The possibility exists that a mutation in a desmosomal glycoprotein gene is responsible for an inheritable human disease, the striated form of palmoplantar keratoderma.