1998 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Differentiation of keratinocytes and induction of epidermis-specific sphingolipids.
| Project/Area Number |
09480157
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Structural biochemistry
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| Research Institution | The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science |
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Principal Investigator |
SUZUKI Akemi The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Head, 生体膜研究部門, 研究員 (70134533)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
HASHIMOTO Yasuhiro The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Research, 生体膜研究部門, 研究員 (80164797)
NAKAMURA Kyoko The Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Research Scientist, 生体膜研究部門, 研究員 (30124481)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1997 – 1998
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| Keywords | keratinocytes / acylglucosylceramide / ceramide / lipid barrier / omega-hydroxyl fatty acid / acylglucosylceramide |
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| Research Abstract |
In the epidermis of skin, lipid barrier produced by differentiated keratinocyes plays important role on the prevention of water loss from bodies. The lipid barrier was reported to consist of epidermis-specific sphingolipids such as acylglucosylceramide (AGC), omega-acylceramide (omegaAC), and omega-hydroxylceramide (omegaOH-C), all containing very long chain w-hydroxyl fatty acids. The relationship between keratinocyte differentiation and the biosynthesis of these sphingolipids was analyzed by using pulse-chase labeling and TLC-autoradiography. The results indicated that the differentiation of cultured human keratinocytes in terms of formation of non-nucleated cells and keratohyalin granules induced the labeled amount of ceramide, AGC, omegaAC, and omegaOH-C and concomitantly decreased that of glucosylceramide, suggesting the following biosynthetic pathways, from GC to AGC, omegaAC, and then omegaOH-C.The biosynthesis of ceramide containing very long chain fatty acids is also activated by the differentiation. We failed to establish assay methods to measure w-hydroxylation of very long fatty acid in ceramide, but further studies are required for the establishment and cloning of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of epidermis specific-sphingolipids.
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