To define DNA regulatory elements that mediate the response of the keratin 1 (K1) gene to Ca(2+)-induced differentiation, regions spanning the 5'- and 3'-flanking sequences, coding regions, and introns from the human K1 gene were cloned into vectors containing the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter gene and transfected into cultured mouse keratinocytes. A 4.3-kilobase (kb) region located 3' to the K1 gene stimulated CAT activity in response to increasing Ca2+ concentrations from 0.05 mM (basal cells) to 1.2 mM (differentiated cells). The 4.3-kb fragment was also active in human epidermal cells but inactive in NIH 3T3 cells and primary mouse fibroblasts. Deletion analysis localized the activity to the terminal 1682 base pairs (bp) of the flanking sequence which retained Ca2+ sensitivity in epidermal cells but was not active in mesenchymal cells. Removal of a 207-base pair element created an enhancer which was active in both epidermal and mesenchymal cells but was still Ca(2+)-inducible. Further deletions identified two elements which functioned synergistically to give maximal Ca(2+)-sensitive activity. Stably transfected epidermal cell lines expressed CAT under the direction of these elements when grafted onto nude mice to reconstitute an intact epidermis. Previously reported keratin regulatory motifs were not contained in the 1682-bp fragment, but an AP-1 site was identified in one of the synergistic subunits.

Keratins K1 and K10 represent the major differentiation products of the maturing epidermal keratinocytes. Primary epidermal cell cultures from newborn K1 transgenic mice containing a 12-kilobase human K1 genomic fragment were established in order to examine the expression of both human and mouse K1 in the presence of known modulators of epidermal differentiation. Elevated levels of Ca2+ in the culture medium induced both mouse K1 and human K1. Supplementing the medium with retinoic acid or 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate or introducing a Harvey viral ras oncogene (v-rasHa) into the cells completely suppressed mouse K1 but not human K1. Our results suggest that: (a) the human 12-kilobase insert contains all the necessary cis-acting elements to respond to the Ca2+ signal, and (b) other cis-acting elements, not present within this insert, may function independently to regulate the response of K1 to retinoids, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, and v-rasHa transformation. This transgenic model provides an approach to identify elements required for the regulation of an epidermal differentiation-specific gene.

Although topical applications of retinoids on rodents and humans have been shown to cause epidermal hyperplasia, a detailed study of the influence of retinoids on epidermal differentiation in vivo has not been performed. In order to assess the pharmacologic effects of chronic topical tretinoin application used to improve the appearance of patients with photoaged skin, cutaneous biopsies from 25 patients in a controlled clinical study were examined histologically and immunocytochemically. Chronic application of tretinoin causes epidermal thickening (25 of 25 samples), stratum granulosum thickening (15 of 25), parakeratosis (13 of 25), a marked increase in the number of cell layers expressing epidermal transglutaminase (13 of 25), and focal expression of two keratins, K6 (12 of 25) and K13 (8 of 25), not normally expressed in the epidermis. The morphologic changes correlated with immunohistochemical abnormalities; neither of these correlated with the subjective cosmetic response. Three major epidermal differentiation products, keratins K1, K10, and K14 were not altered, within the limits of the methods used. Thus, chronic topical tretinoin reprograms some, but not all, aspects of human epidermal differentiation in vivo.

3-Methylthymine was synthesized into DNA copolymers and deoxynucleoside triphosphate to study its effect on DNA synthesis by the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli polymerase I and avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase. Both polymerases were greatly inhibited by template 3-methylthymine. In response to 3-methylthymine, misincorporation of dTTP increased slightly, but occurred only at low levels consistent with spontaneous misincorporation in vitro. Surprisingly, template 3-methylthymine resulted in a striking decrease in background misincorporation, relative to normal incorporation by the Klenow fragment, of dGTP and, to a lesser extent, of dATP and dCTP. The incorporation of 3-methyl-dTTP into DNA was studied using DNA sequencing technology. The Klenow fragment failed to incorporate 3-methyl-dTTP even at 1 mM. Reverse transcriptase incorporated 3-methyl-dTTP opposite adenine, cytosine, and thymine, but at only about 1/40,000th the efficiency of complementary deoxynucleoside triphosphate incorporation. Furthermore, synthesis generally stalled at sites of 3-methyl-thymine incorporation. From these results, we conclude that damage at the central hydrogen-bonding position of thymine abolishes its base-pairing capabilities during DNA synthesis.