Sodium-N-butyrate induces cytoskeletal rearrangements and formation of cornified envelopes in cultured adult human keratinocytes

Abstract The technique developed in our laboratory allows us to culture multilayered, stratified sheets of human keratinocytes, which can be used to cover the burn wounds of patients. Organization of cells in these cultures resembles stratum germinativum and stratum spinosum but there are only a few fully keratinized cells and the stratum corneum is not developed. Since the fully differentiated sheets may offer additional advantages as epidermal transplants, attempts were made to enhance the degree of differentiation in vitro. In the present study sodium-N-butyrate (NaB) was used as a differentiating agent and its effect on the cell cycle and cytoarchitecture of epidermal cells was investigated. Incubation of keratinocytes in the presence of 2.5 mM NaB induced the appearance of enucleated cornified envelopes, covering approximately 70–80% of the surface of the cultures. Their appearance correlated with a decrease in expression of keratin K13, previously shown to be inhibited during terminal differentiation of human keratinocytes. An increase in transglutaminase transferase activity was also observed. The induction of cornified layers also correlated with an increase in the amount of microfilament (MF)-associated actin. NaB also induced changes in the cell cycle distribution of the keratinocyte cultures. A decrease in the proportion of S and G_1B phase cells was paralleled by an increase in G_1A cells, maximally expressed 30–48 h following addition of the inducer. Interestingly, NaB also induced a cell arrest in G₂ phase. These cell cycle perturbations preceded the onset of keratinocyte differentiation. The results indicate that the enhanced differentiation of human keratinocytes in the presence of NaB may serve as a means to produce epidermal sheets with improved properties for transplantation in a clinical setting. It also serves as an in vitro model system to study the interrelationships between biochemical events and cell cycle changes accompanying differentiation.