BACKGROUND

Dupuytren's disease (DD) is a hand disease inherited as an autosomal dominant trait with variable penetrance, especially among populations of northern European ancestry. The etiology and pathophysiology of DD are not clear. The purpose of this study was to examine the gene expression profiles of palmar fascia of DD and healthy patients using microarray analysis to highlight the genes that might contribute to the pathogenesis of DD.

METHODS

Dupuytren contracture samples were taken from excised mature cords of DD patients during aponeurectomies. Control samples were collected from healthy hand trauma patients. Microarray analysis was performed with the Affymetrix HGU133A genome array (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA). Expression changes of selected proteins were confirmed at the protein level with Western and dot blotting or by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS

At least an 8-fold change in gene expression was found with 127 genes, including a 90-fold down-regulation of myoglobin and a 14-fold up-regulation of tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (= ROR2) from absent to present during the disease. The changes in myoglobin and ROR2 expression were confirmed at the protein level.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we showed for the first time the connection of ROR2 in Dupuytren's disease. ROR2 and myoglobin may play an important role in the pathophysiology of this disease.