Abstract
The terminally differentiated stratum corneum cells of mammalian epidermis consist largely of a tough thickened cell membrane and are filled with an insoluble disulphide-bond cross-linked proteinaceous complex, keratin. Ultrastructural studies have revealed that keratin consists of a two component system: filaments (tonofilaments=keratin filaments) that are 7–9 nm wide and an amorphous interfilamentous matrix, the protein of which is thought to derive from keratohyalin [6, 21]. The keratin filaments of the stratum corneum usually appear as lighter-staining rods or circles (or occasionally as annuli) against the darker-staining osmiophilic matrix. This image is referred to as the “keratin pattern” [6]. More recent in vitro biochemical experiments have adduced support for this two component keratin complex. Mixing of keratin filaments reconstituted in vitro with a cationic histidine-rich protein (filaggrin) isolated from stratum corneum cells results in the formation of large insoluble fibrous structures, termed macrofibrils, which consist of many filaments aligned in parallel arrays reminiscent of the keratin pattern of the stratum corneum [9, 37].
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© 1983 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Steinert, P.M. (1983). Epidermal Keratin: Filaments and Matrix. In: Marks, R., Plewig, G. (eds) Stratum Corneum. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68682-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-68682-5_4
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