Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:Q9UIJ5 (Rec)
 58,342 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Caspase-14, a member of the caspase family of cysteine proteases, is almost exclusively expressed in the epidermis. Studies on human and mouse cells and tissues have implicated caspase-14 in terminal differentiation of epidermal keratinocytes and in the formation of the stratum corneum. Here we investigated evolutionary aspects of the role of caspase-14 by analyzing its distribution in the epidermis and hair follicles of representative species of placental mammals, marsupials, and monotremes. Immunocytochemical staining showed that caspase-14 is consistently expressed in the granular and corneous layer of the epidermis of all mammalian species investigated. Ultrastructural analysis using gold-labeled anticaspase-14 antibodies revealed that caspase-14 is associated preferentially with keratin bundles and amorphous material of keratohyalin granules, but is also present in nuclei of transitional cells of the granular layer and in corneocytes. In hair follicles, caspase-14 was diffusely present in cornifying cells of the outer root sheath, in the companion layer, and, most abundantly, in the inner root sheath of all mammalian species here analyzed. In Henle and Huxley layers of the inner root sheath, labeling was seen in nuclei and, more diffusely, among trichohyalin granules of cornifying cells. In summary, the tissue expression pattern and the intracellular localization of caspase-14 are highly conserved among diverse mammalian species, suggesting that this enzyme is involved in a molecular process that appeared early in the evolution of mammalian skin. The association of caspase-14 with keratohyalin and trichohyalin granules may indicate a specific role of caspase-14 in the maturation of these keratinocyte-specific structures.
Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol 2005 Oct
PMID:Distribution of caspase-14 in epidermis and hair follicles is evolutionarily conserved among mammals. 1614 7

Recent comparative genomic studies have identified a chicken gene that codes for a trichohyalin-like protein rich in arginine and glutamic acid termed scaffoldin. Immunocytochemistry and immunoelectron microscopy show that this protein is predominantly localized in periderm granules, subcellular structures present in the periderm of the embryonic epidermis of chick scales, beak, claw, and in the sheath of developing and regenerating feathers. This suggests that scaffoldin contributes to the formation of periderm granules and to the soft cornification of the embryonic epidermis before the definitive epidermis is formed. Scaffoldin is absent from the definitive and adult epidermis generated underneath the periderm in scales and in inter-follicular regions. Scaffoldin mixes with corneous beta-proteins (beta-keratins) synthesized in keratinocytes of the transitional layers formed beneath the periderm in the subunguis of the developing claws. Immunoreactivity for scaffoldin is absent in keratinocytes that accumulate corneous beta-proteins such as those of scales, claws, and barbule-barb cells of feathers. Corneous beta-proteins represent the prevalent type of proteins present in adult epidermis of claws, scales, and feathers. These observations indicate that scaffoldin is a protein of transitional epidermal cells of the avian integument and might represent an important component of periderm granules.
Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2015 Feb
PMID:Immunolocalization of scaffoldin, a trichohyalin-like protein, in the epidermis of the chicken embryo. 2514 16