Genetic complementation of steroid sulphatase after somatic cell hybridization of X-linked ichthyosis and multiple sulphatase deficiency.

Complementation studies of steroid sulphatase were carried out in the heterokaryon population of fibroblasts derived from patients with X-linked ichthyosis and multiple sulphatase deficiency. The activity of steroid sulphatase of the fused cell population was constantly higher (approximately 2-5 fold) than that of the unfused cocultivated cells. The occurrence of complementation further supports the hypothesis that at least two different loci control the expression of steroid sulphatase in the human genome.