Five hundred sixty‐two cases of angioleiomyoma in our files on soft tissues were reappraised clinico‐pathologically. There was a preponderance in females with a ratio of 1.7:l. The angioleiomyoma could be separated into three histologic subtypes: capillary or solid (374 cases), cavernous (61 cases), and venous (127 cases) types. Five hundred (89%) occurrences were in the extremities, 48 in the head, and only 14 in the trunk. The tumors caused pain and/or tenderness in 327 cases, in which 262 were of the solid type. In 16 cases, small groups of mature fat cells were demonstrated within the tumor, suggesting the hamartomatous nature of these smooth muscle tumors.

Peptidylarginine deiminase 4 (PAD4) is a Ca(2+)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of protein arginine residues to citrulline. Its gene is a susceptibility locus for rheumatoid arthritis. Here we present the crystal structure of Ca(2+)-free wild-type PAD4, which shows that the polypeptide chain adopts an elongated fold in which the N-terminal domain forms two immunoglobulin-like subdomains, and the C-terminal domain forms an alpha/beta propeller structure. Five Ca(2+)-binding sites, none of which adopt an EF-hand motif, were identified in the structure of a Ca(2+)-bound inactive mutant with and without bound substrate. These structural data indicate that Ca(2+) binding induces conformational changes that generate the active site cleft. Our findings identify a novel mechanism for enzyme activation by Ca(2+) ions, and are important for understanding the mechanism of protein citrullination and for developing PAD-inhibiting drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

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Objective. Human low-affinity Fc␥ receptors (Fc␥R) constitute a clustered gene family located on chromosome 1q23, that consists of Fc␥RIIA, IIB, IIC, IIIA, and IIIB genes. Fc␥RIIB is unique in its ability to transmit inhibitory signals, and recent animal studies demonstrated a role for Fc␥RIIB deficiency in the development of autoimmunity. Genetic variants of Fc␥RIIA, IIIA, and IIIB and their association with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have been extensively studied in various populations, but the results were inconsistent. To examine the possibility that another susceptibility gene of primary significance exists within the Fc␥R region, we screened for polymorphisms of the human FCGR2B gene, and examined whether these polymorphisms are associated with SLE.Methods. Variation screening of FCGR2B was performed by direct sequencing and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-single-strand conformation polymorphism methods using complementary DNA samples. Genotyping of the detected polymorphism was done using genomic DNA, with a specific genotyping system based on nested PCR and hybridization probing. Association with SLE was analyzed in 193 Japanese patients with SLE and 303 healthy individuals. In addition, the same groups of patients and controls were genotyped for the previously known polymorphisms of FCGR2A, FCGR3A, and FCGR3B. Results. We detected a single-nucleotide polymorphism in FCGR2B, (c.695T>C), coding for a nonsynonymous substitution, Ile232Thr (I232T), within the transmembrane domain. The frequency of the 232T/T genotype was significantly increased in SLE patients compared with healthy individuals. When the same patients and controls were also genotyped for FCGR2A-131R/H, FCGR3A-176V/F, and FCGR3B-NA1/2 polymorphisms, FCGR3A-176F/F showed significant association. Two-locus analyses suggested that both FCGR2B and FCGR3A may contribute to SLE susceptibility, while the previously reported association of FCGR3B was considered to be secondary and derived from strong linkage disequilibrium with FCGR2B.Conclusion. These results demonstrate the association of a new polymorphism of FCGR2B (I232T) with susceptibility to SLE in the Japanese.Results of genome-wide linkage studies have suggested that the chromosomal region 1q23 is one of the strongest candidate regions for human systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (1,2), as well as its syntenic region in murine lupus (3). Three Fc␥ receptor type II