We show here that at least 5 keratin proteins are present in villous trophoblast and the same 5 in extravillous trophoblast. A further 14 tested were undetectable in these tissues. In contrast, 10 of the 19 keratins tested were present in amniotic epithelium. The marking of amniotic epithelium on the one hand, as distinct from villous and extravillous trophoblast on the other, can be achieved u...

Keratins from the differentiating cortical cells of the guinea-pig hair follicle have been studied by immunological and immunofluorescent procedures. Antisera were prepared to the unfractionated keratin proteins from the follicle and the specificity of these antisera examined by lmmunodifTusion and lmmunoelectrophoresis. The major follicle antigens were the 'lowsulphur' keratins, and the antibo...

Although numerous hair proteins have been studied biochemically and many have been sequenced, relatively little is known about their in situ distribution and differential expression in the hair follicle. To study this problem, we have prepared several mouse monoclonal antibodies that recognize different classes of human hair proteins. Our AE14 antibody recognizes a group of 10-25K hair proteins...

AIMS To assess keratin profiles from smears of malignant and contralateral normal oral mucosa as part of the development of a screening procedure for oral cancer based on exfoliative cytology. METHODS Smears were taken from oral cancers (confirmed by biopsy) and from the contralateral site of 20 patients. Using a panel of antikeratin antibodies, the keratins expressed by these cells were iden...

The pupoid fetus (pf) and repeated epilation (Er) mutations of mice result in a failure of epidermal differentiation in homozygotes. Expression of the epidermal keratins has been followed in pf/pf and Er/Er mice by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting using polyclonal antibodies that are monospecific for individual keratin polypeptides. Our resul...

We have investigated keratin interactions in vivo by sequentially extracting water-insoluble proteins from normal human epidermis with increasing concentrations of urea (2, 4, 6, and 9.5 M) and examining each extract by one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, immunoblot analysis using monoclonal anti-keratin antibodies, and EM. The viable layers of normal human epidermis contain keratins ...

When human epidermal cells were seeded on floating rafts of collagen and fibroblasts, they stratified at the air-liquid interface. The suprabasal cells synthesized the large type II (K1) and type I (K10/K11) keratins characteristic of terminal differentiation in skin. At earlier times in culture, expression of the large type II keratins appeared to precede the expression of their type I partner...

BACKGROUND K1 and K2 are the main type II keratins in the suprabasal epidermis where each of them heterodimerizes with the type I keratin K10 to form intermediate filaments. In regions of the ears, tail, and soles of the mouse, only K2 is co-expressed with K10, suggesting that these keratins suffice to form a mechanically resilient cytoskeleton. OBJECTIVE To determine the effects of the suppr...