Tissue culture of human epidermal keratinocytes: a differentiating model system for gene testing and somatic gene therapy

Rho-ROCK-myosin signaling mediates membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase-induced cellular aggregation of keratinocytes

Membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP, MMP14), which is associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) breakdown in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), promotes tumor formation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. However, in this report we demonstrate that MT1-MMP, by cleaving the underlying ECM, causes cellular aggregation of keratinocytes and SCC cells. Treatment with an MMP inhibitor abrogated MT1-MMP-induced phenotypic changes, but decreasing E-cadherin expression did not affect MT1-MMP-induced cellular aggregation. As ROCK1/2 can regulate cell-cell and cell-ECM interaction, we examined its role in mediating MT1-MMP-induced phenotypic changes. Blocking ROCK1/2 expression or activity abrogated the cellular aggregation resulting from MT1-MMP expression. Additionally, blocking Rho and non-muscle myosin attenuated MT1-MMP-induced phenotypic changes. Moreover, SCC cells expressing only the catalytically active MT1-MMP protein demonstrated increased cellular aggregation and increased myosin II activity in vivo when injected subcutaneously into nude mice. Together, these results demonstrate that expression of MT1-MMP may be anti-tumorigenic in keratinocytes by promoting cellular aggregation.

Transgenic studies with a keratin promoter-driven growth hormone transgene: prospects for gene therapy

Keratinocytes are potentially appealing vehicles for the delivery of secreted gene products because they can be transferred to human skin by the relatively simple procedure of grafting. Adult human keratinocytes can be efficiently propagated in culture with sufficient proliferative capacity to produce enough epidermis to cover the body surface of an average adult. However, the feasibility of delivering secreted proteins through skin grafting rests upon (i) the strength of the promoter in keratinocytes and (ii) the efficiency of protein transport through the basement membrane of the stratified epithelium and into the bloodstream. In this paper, we use transgenic technology to demonstrate that the activity of the human keratin 14 promoter remains high in adult skin and that keratinocyte-derived human growth hormone (hGH) can be produced, secreted, and transported to the bloodstream of mice with efficiency that is sufficient to exceed by an order of magnitude the circulating hGH concentration in growing children. Transgenic skin grafts from these adults continue to produce and secrete hGH stably, at approximately 1/10 physiological levels in the bloodstream of nontransgenic recipient mice. These studies underscore the utility of the keratin 14 promoter for expressing foreign transgenes in keratinocytes and demonstrate that keratinocytes can be used as effective vehicles for transporting factors to the bloodstream and for eliciting metabolic changes. These findings have important implications for considering the keratinocyte as a possible vehicle for gene therapy.

Cultured human keratinocytes as a model for studying the dopamine metabolism in schizophrenia

The dopamine hypothesis is the major etiological hypothesis of schizophrenia which proposes that enhanced central nervous system dopaminergic activity is the causative factor for this disease. The hypothesis remains unproven despite decades of research. The major difficulty in studying the disease is due to the unavailability of a suitable animal model. Studies with human blood, cerebrospinal fluid or post-mortem brains lead only to inconclusive results, due to the effects of medication and other environmental factors. No extra-neuronal cells, with the exception of adrenal medulla, have been reported to contain a dopamine metabolic pathway. Literature evidence and our own study suggest that human keratinocytes express the enzymes to synthesize and degrade dopamine. We have compared the properties of tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme, from mouse striatum and from human skin keratinocytes cultured in vitro. Moreover we could also detect dopamine beta hydroxylase and catechol-o-methyl transferase in keratinocytes. We propose that human keratinocytes cultured in vitro can be used to study the relevance of dopamine metabolism to schizophrenia under controlled conditions avoiding the effects of medication and other environmental factors.

Gene transfer into cultured human epidermis and its transplantation onto immunodeficient mice: an experimental model for somatic gene therapy

To try epidermis as a target for somatic gene therapy we studied transfected primary human keratinocytes grown in culture and grafted onto athymic mice. We have developed a novel technique for grafting cultured epidermal sheets onto mice. First, the graft is placed on the dorsal muscle fascia underneath the mouse skin using the latter as a bandage. Secondly, the mouse skin above the graft is removed, which exposes the grafted skin to open air and thus stimulates terminal differentiation. A novel method for the discrimination between murine and human epidermal cells is also presented, employing in situ hybridization with human Alu repeated DNA sequences. During monolayer culture the keratinocytes were lipofected with the gene for human growth hormone in an Epstein-Barr virus-based expression vector. The cells were allowed to develop a multilayered tissue for 5 d, secreting human growth hormone into the medium at a daily rate of at least 50 ng/cm2 of tissue. The transfected tissues were then grafted onto mice. We detected human growth hormone at levels of up to 2.6 ng/ml in mouse serum for 4 d, but later no human growth hormone could be found, although the transplants survived for months. To investigate the fate of the transfected cells in the transplanted tissue, we labeled them with the beta-galactosidase reporter gene. The cells staining positive for X-gal were found exclusively in the most superficial differentiated layers at 7 d after transplantation. This may be the main reason why no human growth hormone is found in the mouse circulation at this time.

Molecular biology and pathology of type VII collagen*

Type VII collagen is a genetically distinct member of the collagen family of proteins. Type VII collagen has been shown to be the major component of anchoring fibrils, attachment complexes which secure the cutaneous basement membrane of the skin to the underlying dermis. Understanding of the structure of type VII collagen has been advanced by recent cloning of the corresponding gene. Chromosomal mapping of the gene to the short arm of chromosome 3 and identification of intragenic polymorphic markers have allowed demonstration of strong genetic linkage between the type VII collagen locus and the dystrophic forms of EB (epidermolysis bullosa). This overview summarizes the progress made in the molecular genetics of type VII collagen.