Distribution of a special subset of keratinocytes characterized by the expression of cytokeratin 9 in adult and fetal human epidermis of various body sites.

Biochemical analyses have previously shown that palmar and plantar epidermis, unlike the epidermis of other body sites, contain cytokeratin 9 (Mr 64,000), an unusually large acidic (type I) cytokeratin. Guinea-pig antibodies that specifically and selectively react with bovine and human cytokeratin 9 were used for the immunocytochemical identification of cytokeratin 9 in adult and fetal human epidermis from various body sites. In the epidermis of palms and soles, antibodies against cytokeratin 9 stained a high proportion of the keratinocytes in suprabasal locations. These suprabasal cytokeratin-9-positive keratinocytes were often arranged in vertical columns and concentrated around intraepidermal sweat-gland ducts, but they sometimes also formed extended continuous sheets. In contrast, another type-I component, cytokeratin(s) 10/11, was uniformly distributed among suprabasal keratinocytes. By double-labeling immunofluorescence microscopy using a monoclonal antibody against cytokeratin(s) 10/11, we found that cytokeratin 9 usually appears in cells located one or two layers above the cells in which cytokeratin(s) 10/11 is detected, indicating that most keratinocytes expressing cytokeratin 9 also express cytokeratin(s) 10/11. At other body sites, cytokeratin 9 was only detected in sparsely distributed keratinocytes localized in upper epidermal layers; these cells were scattered or formed small clusters, and often exhibited a conspicuous association with the epidermal portion of eccrine sweat-gland ducts. During human fetal development, cytokeratin 9 was first detected at week 15 of gestation in some suprabasal cells of the foot-sole epidermis and, occasionally, in basal cells. At later fetal stages, most of the cytokeratin-9-positive cells appeared in clusters that were mainly concentrated in glandular ridges and interridges. Our results show that two major types of terminally differentiating keratinocytes can be distinguished in human epidermis, i.e. those that do and those that do not express cytokeratin 9. This special program of keratinocyte differentiation identified by the presence of cytokeratin 9 appears to be related to the morphogenesis of palm and sole epidermis, where this protein is expressed early in fetal life. Possible biological functions of this subset of cytokeratin-9-positive keratinocytes are discussed.

[1]  R. Moll,et al.  Formation of epidermal and dermal Merkel cells during human fetal skin development. , 1986, The Journal of investigative dermatology.

[2]  W. Franke,et al.  The complement of native alpha-keratin polypeptides of hair-forming cells: a subset of eight polypeptides that differ from epithelial cytokeratins. , 1986, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[3]  J. Jorcano,et al.  Cytokeratin No. 9, an epidermal type I keratin characteristic of a special program of keratinocyte differentiation displaying body site specificity , 1986, The Journal of cell biology.

[4]  B. Geiger,et al.  Monoclonal antibodies to various acidic (type I) cytokeratins of stratified epithelia. Selective markers for stratification and squamous cell carcinomas. , 1986, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[5]  B. Haynes,et al.  The human thymic microenvironment: thymic epithelium contains specific keratins associated with early and late stages of epidermal keratinocyte maturation. , 1986, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[6]  W. Franke,et al.  Cytokeratin patterns of human oral epithelia: differences in cytokeratin synthesis in gingival epithelium and the adjacent alveolar mucosa. , 1985, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[7]  R. Nagle,et al.  Different patterns of cytokeratin expression in the normal epithelia of the upper respiratory tract. , 1985, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[8]  J. Jorcano,et al.  Patterns of Expression and Organization of Cytokeratin Intermediate Filaments , 1985, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[9]  S. Tseng,et al.  Monoclonal Antibody Studies of Mammalian Epithelial Keratins: A Review a , 1985, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[10]  R. Moll,et al.  Cytokeratin polypeptide patterns of different epithelia of the human male urogenital tract: immunofluorescence and gel electrophoretic studies. , 1985, The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society.

[11]  A. Schermer,et al.  Classification of human epithelia and their neoplasms using monoclonal antibodies to keratins: strategies, applications, and limitations. , 1985, Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology.

[12]  R. Moll,et al.  Identification of Merkel cells in human skin by specific cytokeratin antibodies: changes of cell density and distribution in fetal and adult plantar epidermis. , 1984, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[13]  H. Winter,et al.  Sequential expression of mRNA-encoded keratin sets in neonatal mouse epidermis: Basal cells with properties of terminally differentiating cells , 1984, Cell.

[14]  D. Ochs,et al.  Protein contaminants of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. , 1983, Analytical biochemistry.

[15]  R. Moll,et al.  Cytokeratins of normal epithelia and some neoplasms of the female genital tract. , 1983, Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology.

[16]  E. Fuchs,et al.  The cDNA sequence of a type II cytoskeletal keratin reveals constant and variable structural domains among keratins , 1983, Cell.

[17]  R. Moll,et al.  Complex cytokeratin polypeptide patterns observed in certain human carcinomas. , 1982, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[18]  K. Weber,et al.  Monoclonal cytokeratin antibodies that distinguish simple from stratified squamous epithelia: characterization on human tissues. , 1982, The EMBO journal.

[19]  R. Moll,et al.  Changes in the pattern of cytokeratin polypeptides in epidermis and hair follicles during skin development in human fetuses. , 1982, Differentiation; research in biological diversity.

[20]  T. Sun,et al.  Immunolocalization of keratin polypeptides in human epidermis using monoclonal antibodies , 1982, The Journal of cell biology.

[21]  Benjamin Geiger,et al.  The catalog of human cytokeratins: Patterns of expression in normal epithelia, tumors and cultured cells , 1982, Cell.

[22]  R. Moll,et al.  Different keratin polypeptides in epidermis and other epithelia of human skin: a specific cytokeratin of molecular weight 46,000 in epithelia of the pilosebaceous tract and basal cell epitheliomas , 1982, The Journal of cell biology.

[23]  G. Pinkus,et al.  Keratin protein domains within the human epidermis. , 1981, Experimental cell research.

[24]  W. Cunliffe,et al.  Modification of human prekeratin during epidermal differentiation. , 1981, The Biochemical journal.

[25]  B. Oakley,et al.  A simplified ultrasensitive silver stain for detecting proteins in polyacrylamide gels. , 1980, Analytical biochemistry.

[26]  Elaine Fuchs,et al.  Changes in keratin gene expression during terminal differentiation of the keratinocyte , 1980, Cell.

[27]  E. Fuchs,et al.  Multiple keratins of cultured human epidermal cells are translated from different mRNA molecules , 1979, Cell.

[28]  I. Hunter,et al.  Protein modifications during the keratinization of normal and psoriatic human epidermis. , 1978, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[29]  T. W. Keenan,et al.  Structure and biochemical composition of desmosomes and tonofilaments isolated from calf muzzle epidermis , 1978, The Journal of cell biology.

[30]  E. Fuchs,et al.  The expression of keratin genes in epidermis and cultured epidermal cells , 1978, Cell.

[31]  K. Weber,et al.  Antibody to prekeratin. Decoration of tonofilament like arrays in various cells of epithelial character. , 1978, Experimental cell research.

[32]  K Weber,et al.  Different intermediate-sized filaments distinguished by immunofluorescence microscopy. , 1978, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[33]  T. Sun,et al.  Immunofluorescent staining of keratin fibers in cultured cells , 1978, Cell.

[34]  T. Sun,et al.  Keratin filaments of cultured human epidermal cells. Formation of intermolecular disulfide bonds during terminal differentiation. , 1978, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[35]  Howard M. Goodman,et al.  High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis of basic as well as acidic proteins , 1977, Cell.

[36]  T. Sun,et al.  Cultured epithelial cells of cornea, conjunctiva and skin: absence of marked intrinsic divergence of their differentiated states , 1977, Nature.

[37]  W. Idler,et al.  Self-assembly of bovine epidermal keratin filaments in vitro. , 1976, Journal of molecular biology.

[38]  H. Baden,et al.  Organisation of the polypeptide chains in mammalian keratin , 1976, Nature.

[39]  P. O’Farrell High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis of proteins. , 1975, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[40]  L. Goldsmith,et al.  The polypeptide composition of epidermal prekeratin. , 1973, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[41]  T. Tezuka,et al.  Epidermal structural proteins. II. Isolation and purification of tonofilaments of the newborn rat. , 1972, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[42]  R. Moll,et al.  Immunohistochemical distinction of human carcinomas by cytokeratin typing with monoclonal antibodies. , 1984, The American journal of pathology.

[43]  D. Skerrow,et al.  Tonofilament differentiation in human epidermis, isolation and polypeptide chain composition of keratinocyte subpopulations. , 1983, Experimental cell research.

[44]  F. Watt,et al.  Differentiated structural components of the keratinocyte. , 1982, Cold Spring Harbor symposia on quantitative biology.

[45]  H. Baden,et al.  Intraspecies heterogeneity of epidermal keratins isolated from bovine hoof and snout. , 1979, The Biochemical journal.