Filaggrin Essay

Filaggrin is one of the proteins that are found in skin and that regulate epidermal homeostasis. In order to discuss about the function of this protein, the role of skin should be overviewed first. Skin is the largest organ and has an important role in keeping the homeostasis of an organism. It consists of three layers: epidermis, dermis and subcutis. All these layers act together to maintain the integrity of a tissue and sustain the proper functioning of an organ. However, skin is a dynamic organ that constantly change its constitution. This is done by cells moving from the inner side to the outer side. Such reaction is due to cell polarisation. When moving towards outer layers, keratin maturation occurs and four layers of cells of different maturation stages form. In stratum corneum (the outer layer) cells become squamous, have no nuclei and form many layers that overlap and are crosslinked forming a lipid-protein matrix, which acts as a protective barrier and is hard to penetrate. These cells are cornified and shed as they are not viable but new layers form as due to polarisation the cell movement is a continuous …show more content…
In 1981 term 'filaggrin' was used to describe the whole class of proteins that had been found in a stratum corneum. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2721001/) Filaggrin tends to associate with keratins, which take part in a formation of a scaffold. However, actin filaments or microtubules are not associated to filaggrin molecules. The synthesis of filaggrin begins with a large, insoluble precursor molecule, called profilaggrin, which can be found in stratum granulosum. During the cell maturation, profilaggrin is proteolysed into filaggrin as well as dephosphorylated. Now the filaggrin molecule become active and associates to keratin filaments. Such association causes the formation of highly insoluble keratin matrix and tight association between the