Delayed Wound Healing in Keratin 6a Knockout Mice

The study investigated the role of keratin 6a (MK6a) in wound healing by creating MK6a-deficient mice. It was found that MK6a was normally induced in the outer root sheath and interfollicular epidermis upon wounding in normal mice, while MK6b was only induced in the suprabasal layers in MK6a-deficient mice. These MK6a-deficient mice exhibited delayed reepithelialization from hair follicles after superficial wounding, although full-thickness skin wound healing was unaffected. In vitro, keratinocyte migration and proliferation were not impaired in MK6a-deficient mice, and neither MK6a nor MK6b was expressed in keratinocytes of full-thickness wounds. The findings suggested that MK6a was not crucial for keratinocyte proliferation or migration but played a role in activating follicular keratinocytes after wounding, marking the first report of a keratin null mutation leading to a wound healing defect.