Altered expression of genes encoding growth factors and developmental regulators in ILK-deficient epidermis.

(A, B) Expression levels of selected transcripts encoding proteins associated with growth factors or pigmentation (panel A), or key factors in developmental epidermal pathways (panel B) in ILK-deficient K14Cre-Ilk^f/f epidermis, determined by qPCR. The results are expressed as the mean+SEM (n = 5). The differences in expression in ILK-deficient epidermis for each of transcripts shown reached statistical significance (P<0.001, Student's t test) relative to the corresponding transcript levels in ILK-expressing K14Cre-Ilk^f/+ epidermis (set to 1). (C) Protein lysates prepared from the skin of 3 day-old K14Cre-Ilk^f/f or K14Cre-Ilk^f/+ mice (two animals of each genotype) were resolved by denaturing gel electrophoresis, followed by immunoblot analysis using antibodies against LGR5, or γ-tubulin, used as loading control. Lysates prepared from wild type mouse brain were used as a positive control for LGR5 expression.