Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Induction of epidermal transglutaminase by hydrocortisone in chick embryonic skin

  • Letter
  • Published:

From Nature

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

WE demonstrated previously that the epidermal cells of chick embryos are induced to differentiate by glucocorticoids1,2. Hydrocortisone (0.01 µg ml−1) added to a serum-free chemically-defined medium produced an intense keratinised layer over the uppermost cells3 and many tonofilaments within the basal and intermediate cells4 of the epidermis after 4 d in culture of 13-d-old embryonic chick tarsometatarsal skin. Within 12–16 h of hydrocortisone addition it is possible to show the synthesis of a urea–mercaptoethanol soluble, glycine-rich and metabolically stable epidermal structural protein5 and the accumulation of a urea–mercaptoethanol insoluble epidermal protein(s)4. These changes of protein metabolism induced by hydrocortisone paralleled those seen during in ovo keratinisation of the epidermis4,5. The amino acid composition of the two proteins was very similar suggesting that the soluble protein is converted to the insoluble one in the process of epidermal keratinisation of chick embryonic skin. We show here that the levels of transglutaminase (TG), an enzyme that possibly mediates cross-linking of keratinous polypeptide chains by a ɛ-(γ-glutamyl) lysine bond6–8, increases both during in ovo development of the epidermis and during hydrocortisone-induced in vitro keratinisation of chick embryonic cultured skin.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Endo, H. et al. in Biochemistry of Cutaneous Epidermal Differentiation (eds Seiji, M. & Bernstein, A.) 359–378 (University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1977).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Sengel, P. in Morphogenesis of Skin 133–136 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1976).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Sugimoto, M. & Endo, H. J. Embryol. exp. Morph. 25, 365–376 (1971).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Sugimoto, M., Tajima, K., Kojima, A. & Endo, H. Devl Biol. 39, 259–307 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kojima, A., Sugimoto, M. & Endo, H. Devl Biol. 48, 173–183 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ogawa, H. & Goldsmith, L. A. J. biol. Chem. 251, 7281–7288 (1976).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Buxman, M. M. & Wuepper, K. D. J. invest. Dermatol. 65, 107–112 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Abernethy, J. L., Hill, R. L. & Goldsmith, L.A. J. biol. Chem. 252, 1837–1839 (1977).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Moscona, A. A., Moscona, M. H. & Saenz, N. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 61, 160–167 (1968).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Steinberg, R. A., Levinson, B. B. & Tomkins, G. M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 2007–2011 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Schutz, G., Killewich, L., Chen, G. & Feigelson, P. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72, 1017–1020 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Sugimoto, M., Kojima, A. & Endo, H. Devl Growth Different. 18, 319–327 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Goldsmith, L. A. & Martin, C. M. J. invest. Dermatol. 64, 316–321 (1975).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lowry, O. H., Rosebrough, N. J., Farr, A. L. & Randall, R. J. J. biol. Chem. 193, 265–275 (1951).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo, 113

    AKIKO OBINATA

  2. Department of Physiological Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Teikyo University, Sagamiko, Kanagawa, 199–01, Japan

    HIROYOSHI ENDO

Authors
  1. AKIKO OBINATA
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. HIROYOSHI ENDO
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

OBINATA, A., ENDO, H. Induction of epidermal transglutaminase by hydrocortisone in chick embryonic skin. Nature 270, 440–441 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270440a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270440a0

  • Springer Nature Limited

This article is cited by

Search

Navigation