ISOLATION OF HUMAN BASAL KERATINOCYTES BY SELECTIVE ADHESION TO EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX PROTEINS
O. G. Spichkina,1 N. V. Kalmykova, L. V. Kukhareva, I. V. Voronkina, M. I. Blinova,
G. P. Pinaev
Institute of Cytology RAS, St. Petersburg;
1 e-mail: spich@mail.ru
Epidermal human cells (keratinocytes) differently interact with extracellular matrix proteins of the skin basal
membrane depending on the stages of their differentiation. The pool of basal keratinocytes commonly includes stem
cells and transient amplifying cells. They directly attach to the skin basal membrane. Keratinocytes change their
adhesive properties during differentiation, lose direct interaction with the basal membrane and move to suprabasal
epidermal strata. From this, it is suggested that basal and primarily stem cells can be isolated from a heterogenous
keratinocyte population due to their selective adhesion to the extracellular matrix proteins. In the current study,
we analysed the specificity of interaction between primary keratinocytes and extracellular matrix proteins (collagens
of I and IV types, laminin-2/4, fibronectin and matrigel). We have demonstrated that the basal keratinocytes
extracted from the skin have different adhesive abilities. The rapidly spreading cells usually interacted with
collagen and fibronectin rather that with laminin-2/4 or matrigel. The majority of these cells being represented by
basal keratinocytes. Our data demonstrate that the applied method of keratinocyte selection may be directed for
precise isolation of skin stem from a common cell population.
Key words: adhesion, basal keratinocytes, collagen, extracellular matrix proteins, skin stem cells,
fibronectin
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