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Duncan Wotherspoon: Akt1-associated actomyosin remodelling is required for nuclear lamina dispersal and nuclear shrinkage in epidermal terminal differentiation

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Keratinocyte cornification and epidermal barrier formation are tightly controlled processes, which require complete degradation of intracellular organelles, including removal of keratinocyte nuclei.

Keratinocyte nuclear destruction requires Akt1-dependent phosphorylation and degradation of the nuclear lamina protein, Lamin A/C, essential for nuclear integrity. However, the molecular mechanisms that result in complete nuclear removal and their regulation are not well defined.

Post-confluent cultures of rat epidermal keratinocytes (REKs) undergo spontaneous and complete differentiation, allowing visualisation and perturbation of the differentiation process in vitro. We demonstrate that there is dispersal of phosphorylated Lamin A/C to structures throughout the cytoplasm in differentiating keratinocytes.

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