title: Autoantibodies against the chromosomal passenger protein INCENP found in a patient with Graham Little-Piccardi-Lassueur syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Graham Little - Piccardi - Lassueur (GLPL) syndrome is a rare dermatosis characterized by scarring alopecia, loss of pubic and axillary hair, and progressive development of variously located follicular papules. We report a first case ever of an autoimmune response in a patient suffering from GLPL syndrome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Immunofluorescence and immunoblot analysis were used in a variety of cell cultures including human, monkey, hamster, mouse and bovine cells to analyze the presence of autoantibodies in a GLPL patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The autoimmune serum showed a pattern of centromere and spindle microtubule staining resembling that of the chromosomal passenger protein complex. By using a complex of proteins expressed in baculovirus, immunoblot analysis demonstrated that the INCENP protein is a major autoantigen in this patient with GLPL syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An autoimmune response in GLPL syndrome is reported against the INCENP centromere protein. The occasional development of autoimmunity in GLPL patients could serve as a test in continuing efforts to detect this disease and for a more directed therapy based on the autoantigen response.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Inmunología, Hospital Puerta del Mar, 11109 Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Bayona
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruchaud
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Inmunología, Hospital Puerta del Mar, 11109 Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Dermatología, Instituto Social de la Marina, Delegación Provincial de Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Linares
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Astola
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK.
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Earnshaw
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Ciencias, 11510 Puerto Real, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Manuel M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Valdivia