Figure 4.

Epidermal Junctional Proteins in Murine Skin Folliculogenesis

(A) TRF lowered (day 21) the expression of claudin (green), ZO-2 (red), and E-cadherin (green) in murine skin. Sections were counterstained with DAPI. Dermal-epidermal junction is indicated by dashed white line. Scale bars, 20 μm. Abundance of junctional proteins in (A) were quantified and expressed graphically as mean ± SD (n = 6). ^§p < 0.05; ^†p < 0.01; *p < 0.001. (B) Trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) was measured from the dorsal skin of mice after topical application of TRF or PBO for 21 days. Data are mean ± SD (n = 6). ^†p < 0.01. (C) Keratinocytes (HaCaT cells) treated with pure tocotrienol (1 μM, 24 hr) showed lower expression of E-cadherin (red) in the cell membrane and increased nuclear translocation of β-catenin (green). Scale bars, 20 μm.