The use of monoclonal antibodies in skin basement membrane research

Recent experiments have indicated that it is possible to uncover new antigens within both the basement membrane zone and the epidermis of normal adult human skin by producing murine anti-human monoclonal antibodies following immunization with human skin preparations. Already one such monoclonal antibody has defined a biochemical defect that may be important in the pathogenesis of one of the more severe blistering skin diseases, dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. It is likely that further attempts at hybridoma production using basement membrane extracts of skin will lead not only to the identification of other as yet unknown components of the human dermo-epidermal junction, but may also shed insight into the biochemical basis of one or more cutaneous diseases involving that region of the skin.