CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON MAMMALIAN SKIN

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our current studies at the BRC involve the physiological function of the epidermal layer of mammalian skin and its response to various chemical and environmental stimuli. The mammalian epidermis is a multilayered organ, serving to control water loss and protect the organism from external toxins and pathogens. The maintenance of the skin's integrity is essential for health and survival of the organism, and loss of epidermal barrier function has been implicated in responses to chemical insult as well as a number of disorders, including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. In the skin, basal keratinocytes, self-renewing cells located at the base of the epidermis, grow, differentiate, and give rise to the cell layers above. In this process an extracellular pH gradient is formed, in which the outermost differentiated layers are most acidic. Acidification is driven by the epidermal cell proton extrusion, creating an environment essential for barrier integrity. We were interested in examining the mechanisms involved in extracellular acidification by keratinocytes, and recognized that NCRR BioCurrents Research Center had resources that were uniquely suited to monitoring extracellular pH from these cells.