A New Look Into an Old Problem: Keratins as Tools to Investigate Determination, Morphogenesis, and Differentiation in Skin
January 1989
in “
Genes & Development
”
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Studysummary 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.
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The study investigated keratin and keratin mRNA expression during the differentiation of stem cells into epidermis and hair follicles, as well as follicle morphogenesis. It found that type I keratin K14 was expressed early in embryonal basal cells and elevated in the basal layer of developing epidermis, but suppressed in developing matrix cells, indicating a biochemical distinction between diverging cell types. This expression pattern suggested a narrow developmental window for irreversible divergence in basal and matrix cells. In contrast, a hair-specific type I keratin was expressed late in hair matrix development, indicating that keratin expression might be a consequence of cell organization and differentiation rather than a cause.
