Study of epidermal differentiation in human keratinocytes cultured in autocrine conditions.

Abstract

This chapter deals with protocols to set up human keratinocyte cultures in serum-free conditions and lead them to autocrine autonomously growing conditions. These conditions have proven adequate for studies of epidermal differentiation by measurements of the expression of typical early and late differentiation markers. The chapter also deals with the use of quantitative RT-PCR in order to determine the epidermal marker gene expression levels by comparison with adequate housekeeping genes.