Laboratory of Skin Biology

Alasdair Steven, Ph.D.

*Acting Chief, Laboratory of Skin Biology

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Mailing Address :

Building 50, Room 1523
50 South Drive
Bethesda, MD 20892-8023

Phone: (301)496-1578
Fax: (301)402-2886

*On 7 April 2003, the founding Chief of the Laboratory of Skin Biology, Dr. Peter M. Steinert, died suddenly.

Project Title: Structure, Function, Regulation, and Interactions of Gene Products Derived from Skin Cells

Millions of years ago, early vertebrate ancestors of the human crawled out of swamps to begin a new era of life on land. One of their earliest adaptations to this new environment was improved barrier function of their epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. How the epidermis and numerous gene products that are made in the epidermis provide this protective barrier is the focus of research by the Laboratory of Skin Biology.

The common theme of work within the Section of Molecular Biology of Keratinization concerns elucidating the structure, role, and control of proteins and enzymes that collaborate to form a normal cornifed epidermis. Some of these proteins and enzymes provide unique biological examples in terms of their peculiar amino acid compositions and likely structures. Moreover, basic molecular and structural biological studies will likely yield important insight into ichthyosiform diseases. A focus of future work will be to exploit basic information for therapy to ameliorate the ichthyosiform skin diseases.

• Molecular Biology of Keratinization Section

Personnel

Alumni