Zinsser-Cole-Engmann syndrome: A rare case report with literature review.

Zinsser-Cole-Engmann syndrome, more commonly known as Dyskeratosis Congenita, is a heritable genodermatosis having an estimated incidence of 1 in 1 million people. It is important for an oral physician to be aware of this condition as oral leukoplakia occurs in this condition as part of a classic triad along with reticulate skin pigmentation and nail dystrophy. Besides these, there may be myriad multisystem involvement as well. These individuals have a high predilection for developing malignancies as well as other grave life-threatening conditions. Timely diagnosis and management of these cases may help improve their morbidity and mortality, for which oral physicians can play a major role in recognizing the cases. This will only be possible when more of such cases are reported in dental literature. Here we present a case report of a 30 year old male patient who reported to our department with all the characteristic features of the triad and a few additional findings concordant to the disease as well. Key words:Zinsser-Cole-Engmann syndrome, Dyskeratosis Congenita, leukoplakia, genodermatosis, skin pigmentation, nail dystrophy, progeria, hematological disturbances.

E3B1/ABI-1 isoforms are down-regulated in cancers of human gastrointestinal tract.

The expression of E3B1/ABI-1 protein and its role in cancer progression and prognosis are largely unknown in the majority of solid tumors. In this study, we examined the expression pattern of E3B1/ABI-1 protein in histologically confirmed cases of esophageal (squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma), gastro-esophageal junction, colorectal cancers and corresponding normal tissues freshly resected from a cohort of 135 patients, by Western Blotting and Immunofluorescence Staining. The protein is present in its phosphorylated form in cells and tissues. Depending on the extent of phosphorylation it is either present in hyper-phosphorylated (M. Wt. 72 kDa) form or in hypo-phosphorylated form (M. Wt. 68 kDa and 65 kDa). A thorough analysis revealed that expression of E3B1/ABI-1 protein is significantly decreased in esophageal, gastro-esophageal junction and colorectal carcinomas irrespective of age, gender, dietary and smoking habits of the patients. The decrease in expression of E3B1/ABI-1 was consistently observed for all the three isoforms. However, the decrease in the expression of isoforms varied with different forms of cancers. Down-regulation of E3B1/ABI-1 expression in human carcinomas may play a critical role in tumor progression and in determining disease prognosis.