775 Structural and molecular similarities between plantar and wound keratinocytes - is the foot a chronic wound?

Abstract

Plantar skin is known for specializations such as lack of hair, accelerated epidermal turnover, poor barrier function, and expression of cytokeratin 9, but both clinically and scientifically it is often regarded as just thicker versions of “normal” skin. Using the porcine model (which we have found shares many structural and molecular similarities with human plantar skin, more so than rodent models), we recently found that plantar skin is more distinctive than previously recognized, including a unique gene expression profile, and substantial alterations in both tissue calcium distribution and store-operated calcium entry response, with broad implications as calcium is both a key regulator of keratinocyte differentiation and a critical component in second messenger signaling.