In intact skin the epidermal layer is a dynamic tissue component which is maintained by a basal layer of mitotically active cells. The protective upper epidermis, the stratum corneum, is generated by differentiation of the suprabasal keratinocytes which eventually desquamate as anuclear comeocytes. A similar sequence of events is observed in vitro in the non-contracting human skin equivalent (HSE) which was developed in this lab (1). As a part of the definition process for this model of living skin we are examining its ultrastructural features. Since desmosomes are important in maintaining cell-cell interactions in stratified epithelia their distribution in HSE was examined.
