Abstract
During fetal development, the barrier function of the fetal skin is developed under specific conditions for epidermis formation. In keratinocyte differentiation, the well-orchestrated production and modification of various structural proteins are induced. We assessed the epidermal barrier function in different fetal stages by evaluating the enzymatic activity of cross-linking proteins, transglutaminases, and the permeation of fluorescence dye in the stained epidermal sections. During days 15.5-17.5 in gestation, the enzymatic activities in the epidermis appeared to increase significantly; meanwhile, dye permeation was substantially decreased, suggesting the formation of a protective barrier. For the fetal epidermis formation in the earlier stage, unclarified stimulating factors in the amniotic fluid (AF) are possible to promote barrier function by stimulating keratinocyte differentiation. Thus, we performed proteomic spectrometric (MS) analysis on the components in the AF at different fetal stages. Also, we investigated the promotive ability of the components using a cultured keratinocyte differentiation system. According to the MS analysis, the AF components appeared to exhibit stage-specific variations, where possible unique functions have been identified. We also found that adding the AF from each stage to the medium for cultured keratinocytes specifically enhanced the levels of the differentiation markers. These results provide information on the possible role of AF that contains regulatory factors on keratinocyte differentiation.