Cohesion of horny cells during comedo formation. An electron microscope study.

Cohesion between horny cells was studied in experimentally induced comedones, from the rabbit's external ear canal. It occurred in two different ways: initially, by the persistence of desmosones and desmonosmal bodies (fusiform electron dense bodies), which loosely held the horny cells together; later, and to a lesser extent, by tight junctions, which tightly bound the horny cells together. A gradual decrease in the numbers of membrane coating granules was observed.