Molecular and mechanical signatures contributing to mouse epidermal differentiation and barrier formation.

ABSTRACT: Formation of the skin barrier requires rapid proliferation coupled with differentiation and stratification of the embryonic epidermis. Basal progenitors give rise to progeny throughout development - first to intermediate cells, a transient proliferative suprabasal cell population, and later to spinous cells. Neither the function nor the differentiation trajectory of intermediate cells has been documented. We generated transcriptomes of intermediate and spinous cells and identified specific markers that distinguish these two populations. Further, we found that intermediate cells express a subset of genes in common with granular cells of the epidermis - the terminal living cell type that helps establish the barrier. Lineage tracing revealed that most intermediate cells directly transition to

SUBMITTER: Prado-Mantilla A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12331242 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature