Book chapter
Mechanobiology of Epidermal Keratinocytes: Desmosomes, Hemidesmosomes, Keratin Intermediate Filaments, and Blistering Skin Diseases
Mechanobiology of Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interactions, pp.169-210
Springer US
01/21/2011
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4419-8083-0_9
Abstract
Despite continuous advances in our understanding of the human epidermis and its principal cell type, the keratinocyte, the biophysical mechanisms that endow these cells with such remarkable mechanobiological properties remain largely unknown. Towards this end, this chapter serves as an eclectic but didactic introduction to the biology, pathology, and rheology of human epidermal keratinocytes. The initial discussion is primarily morphological in content, including a histological illustration of the human epidermis and an ultrastructural description of the various cell-cell and cell-matrix anchoring junctions that are expressed by human epidermal keratinocytes in vivo. The associations between intercellular adhesion, intracellular resistance to mechanical deformation, and keratinocyte differentiation are reviewed. Next, the pathophysiologies of several different autoimmune, genetic, and infectious blistering skin diseases are explored, including epidermolysis bullosa simplex, pemphigus vulgaris, and the staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, among others. These clinical disorders serve as poignant examples as to how mechanical failures within the cytoarchitectural system of keratin intermediate filaments, desmosomes, and hemidesmosomes can give rise to human disease states. The chapter concludes with a brief accounting of past and current experimental attempts to characterize the mechanobiology of human epidermal keratinocytes with rheological measurements across a large range of experimental length scales.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Mechanobiology of Epidermal Keratinocytes: Desmosomes, Hemidesmosomes, Keratin Intermediate Filaments, and Blistering Skin Diseases
- Creators
- John C Selby - Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, and the College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, USA
- Resource Type
- Book chapter
- Publication Details
- Mechanobiology of Cell-Cell and Cell-Matrix Interactions, pp.169-210
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-1-4419-8083-0_9
- Publisher
- Springer US; Boston, MA
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/21/2011
- Academic Unit
- Roy J. Carver Department of Biomedical Engineering; Dermatology
- Record Identifier
- 9984025318802771
Metrics
26 Record Views