Studysummary This study found that high levels of human cytokeratin 16 expression in transgenic mice lead to skin lesions and altered keratinocyte structure, suggesting potential implications for human skin disorders and wound healing. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
The study investigated the effects of overexpressing human cytokeratin 16 (K16) in transgenic mice to understand its role in skin physiology. K16 is typically expressed in postmitotic keratinocytes and is upregulated in hyperproliferative or abnormally differentiating stratified squamous epithelia, particularly at wound edges. Transgenic mice with low K16 expression appeared normal for 6-8 months, while those with high expression developed skin lesions within a week of birth, coinciding with fur emergence. These lesions began with keratin filament reorganization in the hair follicle's outer root sheath and spread to the proximal epidermis, leading to thickened epithelia, altered keratinocyte structure, and abnormal keratinization without cell lysis. The findings suggested implications for epithelial differentiation, genodermatoses, and wound healing.
31 citations
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March 1995 in “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” 94 citations
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October 1994 in “The Journal of Cell Biology” This study demonstrates that overexpression of K16 in transgenic mice disrupts normal keratinization, leading to hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, and alterations in the skin's epithelial cells.
93 citations
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May 1990 in “The EMBO Journal” Mice with extra sheep genes had hair that fell out and regrew in cycles.
156 citations
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January 1989 in “Genes & Development” This study found that keratin K14 expression occurs early in epidermal cell differentiation, while a hair-specific keratin is expressed later in hair matrix cells, suggesting developmental divergence between the two cell types.
141 citations
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February 1988 in “Molecular and Cellular Biology” This study found that despite strong homology between two K16 genes, only one encoded a functional protein that assembled into keratin filaments in epithelial cells, possibly due to promoter strength differences.
135 citations
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November 1987 in “Differentiation” This study found that cultured outer root sheath cells from human hair follicles expressed a keratin profile similar to their in vivo environment, indicating environmental influence on keratin expression.
57 citations
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January 1987 in “Journal of Biological Chemistry” This study identified and sequenced several keratin cDNA clones showing distinct expression patterns in mouse epithelia, with in situ hybridization highlighting differences in keratin distribution between normal and hyperproliferative tissues.
