Characterization of In Vitro Differentiation of Human Primary Keratinocytes by RNA-Seq Analysis

Human primary keratinocytes are often used as in vitro models for studies on epidermal differentiation and related diseases. Methods have been reported for in vitro differentiation of keratinocytes cultured in two-dimensional (2D) submerged manners using various induction conditions. Described here is a procedure for 2D in vitro keratinocyte differentiation method by contact inhibition and subsequent molecular characterization by RNA-seq. In brief, keratinocytes are grown in defined keratinocyte medium supplemented with growth factors until they are fully confluent. Differentiation is induced by close contacts between the keratinocytes and further stimulated by excluding growth factors in the medium. Using RNA-seq analyses, it is shown that both 1) differentiated keratinocytes exhibit distinct molecular signatures during differentiation and 2) the dynamic gene expression pattern largely resembles cells during epidermal stratification. As for comparison to normal keratinocyte differentiation, keratinocytes carrying mutations of the transcription factor p63 exhibit altered morphology and molecular signatures, consistent with their differentiation defects. In conclusion, this protocol details the steps for 2D in vitro keratinocyte differentiation and its molecular characterization, with an emphasis on bioinformatic analysis of RNA-seq data. Because RNA extraction and RNA-seq procedures have been well-documented, it is not the focus of this protocol. The experimental procedure of in vitro keratinocyte differentiation and bioinformatic analysis pipeline can be used to study molecular events during epidermal differentiation in healthy and diseased keratinocytes.