Concanavalin A distinguishes among diseases of altered epidermal differentiation.

Mannose-containing of glycoproteins from lesional tissue of several diseases of aberrant epidermal differentiation (palmar-plantar keratoderma, pachyonychia congenita, psoriasis, and epidermolytic hyperkeratosis) were analyzed by overlaying iodinated concanavalin A onto molecules separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Gel autoradiograms showed that biopsy samples from patients with the same disease were very similar. The radioactivity profiles were different for each disease and were distinguishable from each other and from normal epidermis and callus. The resolution and sensitivity of this technique may be of diagnostic significance.