Novel mutations of cathepsin C gene in two Chinese patients with Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome.

Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) is an inherited human disease characterized by early-onset periodontitis and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis. Mutations of the lysosomal protease cathepsin C (CTSC) gene have been shown to be the genetic cause of Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome. There are several case reports in China, while there has been no study on the genetic analysis of PLS. We studied two Chinese patients carrying Papillon-Lefèvre syndrome and showing premature tooth loss and palmoplantar hyperkeratosis. Mutation screening and sequence analysis of the CTSC gene revealed a compound heterozygous mutation (c.415 G>A and c.778 T>C) in one patient, and two novel compound heterozygous mutations (c.851G>A and c.112delCCTG) in the other patient. Our novel discovery indicates that the phenotypes observed in these two patients are due to the CTSC gene mutation.