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Updated: Oct 15, 2026

Isolation and Culture of Primary Oral Keratinocytes from the Adult Mouse Palate
Published on: September 24, 2021
Small proline-rich protein 1 is the major component of the cell envelope of normal human oral keratinocytes
1Oral and Pharyngeal Cancer Branch, NIDCR, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-7252, USA.
Abstract:
Oral keratinocytes of buccal and gingival tissues undergo a terminal differentiation program to form a protective epithelial barrier as non-keratinized or parakeratinized stratified cells. We have examined the protein composition of cell envelopes (CEs) from normal human buccal and gingival tissues as well as keratinocytes from normal human gingival cells grown in culture. Biochemical and sequencing analyses reveal that the CEs contain 60-70% small proline-rich protein 1a/b (SPR1a/b), together with smaller amounts of involucrin, annexin I and several other known CE proteins. The data imply a specialized role for SPR1 proteins in the unique barrier function requirements of oral epithelia.
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