Fucosyl glycopeptide profiles of keratinocytes from various epithelial tissues of the rabbit in relation to differentiation in vivo and in vitro.

Keratinocytes have been isolated from rabbit cornea, esophagus, and skin by trypsinization. The freshly isolated cells differed in their morphology, growth characteristics in culture, transglutaminase activity (a marker for differentiation), and the composition of glycoprotein-derived fucopeptides. A clear relationship has been shown between the proportion of low-molecular-weight fucopeptides and the pattern of keratinization, being minimal in cornea and maximal in skin. Comparison with earlier literature suggests that this relationship may be a general feature of epithelial tissue. After several passages in culture, all differences between the three cell types disappeared. The unusual elution pattern of the fucopeptides on gel filtration suggests the possibility of a block at an early stage of glycoprotein synthesis under culture conditions.