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Updated: Jun 24, 2026

Isolation and Culture of Primary Mouse Keratinocytes from Neonatal and Adult Mouse Skin
Published on: July 14, 2017
Bcl-3 acts as an innate immune modulator by controlling antimicrobial responses in keratinocytes
Amanda S Büchau1, Daniel T MacLeod, Shin Morizane
1Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California 92161, USA.
Abstract:
Innate immune responses involve the production of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), chemokines, and cytokines. We report here the identification of B-cell leukemia (Bcl)-3 as a modulator of innate immune signaling in keratinocytes. In this study, it is shown that Bcl-3 is inducible by the Th2 cytokines IL-4 and IL-13 and is overexpressed in lesional skin of atopic dermatitis (AD) patients. Bcl-3 was shown to be important to cutaneous innate immune responses as silencing of Bcl-3 by small-interfering RNA (siRNA) reversed the downregulatory effect of IL-4 on the HBD3 expression. Bcl-3 silencing enhanced vitamin D3 (1,25D3)-induced gene expression of cathelicidin AMP in keratinocytes, suggesting a negative regulatory function on cathelicidin transcription. Furthermore, 1,25D3 suppressed Bcl-3 expression in vitro and in vivo. This study identified Bcl-3 as an important modulator of cutaneous innate immune responses and its possible therapeutic role in AD.
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