Figure 1
From: A transcription factor 7-like 1-lipocalin 2 axis in the differentiation of keratinocytes
The roles of Tcf7l1–LCN2 axis in keratinocyte differentiation. (a) In healthy skin, epidermal differentiation is a complex process with keratinocyte developing from a proliferative cell type in the basal cell layer of the epidermis into flattened, dead cells in the outermost layer, the stratum corneum (b) In the HFKs with calcium stimuli, E6/E7-transfected HFKs or SCC-13 cells, differentiation is dysregulated by the upregulation of Tcf7l1, which further leads to an increase in LCN2 by upregulating MMP-2. Meanwhile, LCN2 can interact with MMP-2 to decrease the expression of involucrin, loricrin, caspase-14, and keratin-1. Some skin diseases featuring epidermal parakeratosis follow such rule in keratinocyte differentiation
