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A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2008
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Submitted on June 4, 2007
Revised on January 9, 2008
Accepted on January 17, 2008
*Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, and Regulatory Biology and Functional Genomics Research Group, Siebens-Drake Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada;
Animal Care and Veterinary Services, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada;
Shriners Hospital and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;
Department of Biochemistry and BC Cancer Agency, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and ||Department of Paediatrics, Child Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
Monitoring Editor: Asma Nusrat
Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is key for cell survival, migration and adhesion, but little is known about its role in epidermal development and homeostasis in vivo. We generated mice with conditional inactivation of the Ilk gene in squamous epithelia. These mice die perinatally and exhibit skin blistering and severe defects in hair follicle morphogenesis, including greatly reduced follicle numbers, failure to progress beyond very early developmental stages and pronounced defects in follicular keratinocyte proliferation. ILK-deficient epidermis shows abnormalities in adhesion to the basement membrane and in differentiation. ILK-deficient cultured keratinocytes fail to attach and spread efficiently, and exhibit multiple abnormalities in actin cytoskeletal organization. Ilk gene inactivation in cultured keratinocytes causes impaired ability to form stable lamellipodia, to directionally migrate and to polarize. These defects are accompanied by abnormal distribution of active Cdc42 to cell protrusions, as well as reduced activation of Rac1 upon induction of cell migration in scratched keratinocyte monolayers. Significantly, alterations in cell spreading and forward movement in single cells can be rescued by expression of constitutively active Rac1 or RhoG. Our studies underscore a central and distinct role for ILK in hair follicle development and in polarized cell movements, two key aspects of epithelial morphogenesis and function.
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