The expressions of cytokeratin 8 and 18 (CK8 and CK18) in the normal canine skin (2 cases) and cutaneous adnexal tumors (127 cases) were investigated immunohistochemically. In the normal skin, co-expression of CK8/18 was found in the glandular epithelium of apocrine sweat glands, and single CK8-immunoreactivity was detected occasionally in the external root sheath at the isthmus and suprabulbar...

Matriptase and prostasin, acting as a tightly coupled proteolytic cascade, were reported to be required for epidermal barrier formation in mouse skin. Here we show that, in human skin, matriptase and prostasin are expressed with an inverse pattern over the course of differentiation. Matriptase was detected primarily in epidermal basal keratinocytes and the basaloid cells in the outer root sheat...

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) is an enzyme responsible for oxidizing aldehydes to carbonic acids. ALDH1 is an isoform that is thought to be a stem cell marker as it is highly expressed in the stem cells of various organs. However, its expression in basal cell carcinoma (BCC), actinic keratosis (AK) and Bowen's disease (BD) of the skin has not yet been analyzed. Twenty-five consecutive operative...

Injury to epidermis and other stratified epithelia triggers profound but transient changes in the pattern of keratin expression. In postmitotic cells located at the wound edge, a strong induction of K6, K16, and K17 synthesis occurs at the expense of the keratins produced under the normal situation. The functional significance of these alterations in keratin expression is not known. Here, we re...

The combined effects of myosin II and actin enable muscle and nonmuscle cells to generate forces required for muscle contraction, cell division, cell migration, cellular morphological changes, the maintenance of cellular tension and polarity, and so on. However, except for the case of muscle contraction, the details are poorly understood. We focus on nonmuscle myosin and actin in the formation ...

BACKGROUND The mammalian hair represents an unparalleled model system to understand both developmental processes and stem cell biology. The hair follicle consists of several concentric epithelial sheaths with the outer root sheath (ORS) forming the outermost layer. Functionally, the ORS has been implicated in the migration of hair stem cells from the stem cell niche toward the hair bulb. Howeve...

iRhom1 and iRhom2 are inactive homologues of rhomboid intramembrane serine proteases lacking essential catalytic residues, which are necessary for the maturation of TNFα-converting enzyme (TACE). In addition, iRhoms regulate epidermal growth factor family secretion. The functional significance of iRhom2 during mammalian development is largely unclear. We have identified a spontaneous single gen...

In many species, salt sensitivity is associated with the accumulation of sodium (Na(+)) in photosynthetic tissues. Na(+) uptake to leaves involves a series of transport steps and so far very few candidate genes have been implicated in the control of these processes. In this study, Na(+) transport was compared in two varieties of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum) L. subsp. durum known to differ in...

Mycorrhiza is a mutualistic association between zone surrounding the root [2]. Although a lack in growth fungi and higher plants [1]. Different types of mycorrhizae response to VA-fungi inoculation in unsterilized soil was occur, distinguished by their morphology and to a also recorded, this result has been attributed to the fact certain extent, in their physiology. These include the that nativ...