Distribution of glycoconjugates in human skin appendages.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the occurrence and distribution of glycoconjugates in normal human epidermis and skin appendages (pilosebaceous unit, eccrine sweat gland) by means of FITC-labelled lectins (ConA, WGA, UEA I). Both the outer hair root and the follicular ostium-epithel disclosed a glycoconjugate expression with close homology to interfollicular epidermis. The acinar epithelium of sebaceous glands and the inner layers of hair follicles showed a more or less distinct staining pattern. Lectin binding of eccrine sweat glands revealed marked differences between ducts and secretory coils. The epithelial distribution of glycoconjugates indicates a relatively independent differentiation pathway of eccrine sweat glands compared with other specialized epithelia of the human skin.