Breaching the barrier: Too much of the protein ELA2 impairs skin barrier function
Thursday, March 4, 2010 - 21:14
in Biology & Nature
Our skin has two crucial barrier functions: it protects against water loss and it prevents penetration of infectious agents and allergens. By studying mice and humans, a team of researchers in France has now generated data that indicate an important role for the protein elastase 2 (ELA2) in maintaining skin barrier function and suggest that ELA2 might have a role in the development of the rare genetic skin disease Netherton syndrome.