Communicated by Andrew O.M. WilkieMutations in the inhibitor of kappa light polypeptide gene enhancer in B-cells, kinase gamma (IKBKG), also called nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB) essential modulator (NEMO), gene are the most common single cause of incontinentia pigmenti (IP) in females and anhydrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immunodeficiency (EDA-ID) in males. The IKBKG gene, located in the Xq28 chromosomal region, encodes for the regulatory subunit of the inhibitor of kappaB (IkB) kinase (IKK) complex required for the activation of the NF-kB pathway. Therefore, the remarkably heterogeneous and often severe clinical presentation reported in IP is due to the pleiotropic role of this signaling transcription pathway. A recurrent exon 4_10 genomic rearrangement in the IKBKG gene accounts for 60 to 80% of IP-causing mutations. Besides the IKBKG rearrangement found in IP females (which is lethal in males), a total of 69 different small mutations (missense, frameshift, nonsense, and splice-site mutations) have been reported, including 13 novel ones in this work. The updated distribution of all the IP-and EDA-ID-causing mutations along the IKBKG gene highlights a secondary hotspot mutation in exon 10, which contains only 11% of the protein. Furthermore, familial inheritance analysis revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of sporadic cases (465%). The sum of the observations can aid both in determining the molecular basis of IP and EDA-ID allelic diseases, and in genetic counseling in affected families. Hum Mutat 29(5), [595][596][597][598][599][600][601][602][603][604] 2008.

IKBKG/NEMO gene mutations cause an X-linked, dominant neuroectodermal disorder named Incontinentia Pigmenti (IP). Located at Xq28, IKBKG/NEMO has a unique genomic organization, as it is part of a segmental duplication or low copy repeat (LCR1-LCR2, >99% identical) containing the gene and its pseudogene copy (IKBKGP). In the opposite direction and outside LCR1, IKBKG/NEMO partially overlaps G6PD, whose mutations cause a common X-linked human enzymopathy. The two LCRs in the IKBKG/NEMO locus are able to recombine through non-allelic homologous recombination producing either a pathological recurrent exon 4-10 IKBKG/NEMO deletion (IKBKGdel) or benign small copy number variations. We here report that the local high frequency of micro/macro-homologies, tandem repeats and repeat/repetitive sequences make the IKBKG/NEMO locus susceptible to novel pathological IP alterations. Indeed, we describe the first two independent instances of inter-locus gene conversion, occurring between the two LCRs, that copies the IKBKGP pseudogene variants into the functional IKBKG/NEMO, causing the de novo occurrence of p.Glu390ArgfsX61 and the IKBKGdel mutations, respectively. Subsequently, by investigating a group of 20 molecularly unsolved IP subjects using a high-density quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay, we have identified seven unique de novo deletions varying from 4.8 to ∼115 kb in length. Each deletion removes partially or completely both IKBKG/NEMO and the overlapping G6PD, thereby uncovering the first deletions disrupting the G6PD gene which were found in patients with IP. Interestingly, the 4.8 kb deletion removes the conserved bidirectional promoterB, shared by the two overlapping IKBKG/NEMO and G6PD genes, leaving intact the alternative IKBKG/NEMO unidirectional promoterA. This promoter, although active in the keratinocytes of the basal dermal layer, is down-regulated during late differentiation. Genomic analysis at the breakpoint sites indicated that other mutational forces, such as non-homologous end joining, Alu-Alu-mediated recombination and replication-based events, might enhance the vulnerability of the IP locus to produce de novo pathological IP alleles.

We report here on the building-up of a database of information related to 386 cases of Incontinentia Pigmenti collected in a thirteen-year activity (2000–2013) at our centre of expertise. The database has been constructed on the basis of a continuous collection of patients (27.6/year), the majority diagnosed as sporadic cases (75.6%). This activity has generated a rich source of information for future research studies by integrating molecular/clinical data with scientific knowledge. We describe the content, architecture and future utility of this collection of data on IP to offer comprehensive anonymous information to the international scientific community.