Figure 6.

Synchronized body‐wide epidermal shedding, and a possible role for TGFβ/activin signalling. Geckos, along with other squamates and tuatara, undergo discontinuous episodes of ecdysis, resulting in the coordinated sloughing of large patches of the epidermis (A). Coordinated ecdysis requires the synchronization of stratum germinativum proliferation to duplicate the epidermis, creating an inner and outer epidermal generation. The outer generation (B) is eventually sloughed off. We hypothesize a role for TGFβ1 in coordinating body‐wide ecdysis. TGFβ1 is known to inhibit keratinocyte proliferation and prevent hyperproliferation during wound healing. As evidenced by pSMAD2 expression, the canonical TGFβ/activin signalling pathway is constitutively activated, suggesting that it may participate in the suppression of continuous shedding. Haematoxoylin & eosin. Scale bar: 10 μm.