Expression Changes of Structural Protein Genes May Be Related to Adaptive Skin Characteristics Specific to Humans.

ABSTRACT: Human skin is morphologically and physiologically different from the skin of other primates. However, the genetic causes underlying human-specific skin characteristics remain unclear. Here, we quantitatively demonstrate that the epidermis and dermis of human skin are significantly thicker than those of three Old World monkey species. In addition, we indicate that the topography of the epidermal basement membrane zone shows a rete ridge in humans but is flat in the Old World monkey species examined. Subsequently, we comprehensively compared gene expression levels between human and nonhuman great ape skin using next-generation cDNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). We identified four structural protein genes associated with the epidermal basement membrane zone or elastic fibers in the dermis (COL18A1, L

SUBMITTER: Arakawa N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6402313 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature