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. 2012 Jan;4(1):12-6.
doi: 10.4168/aair.2012.4.1.12. Epub 2011 Sep 21.

Epidermal barrier in atopic dermatitis

Byung Eui Kim  1 , Donald Ym Leung
Affiliations

Epidermal barrier in atopic dermatitis

Byung Eui Kim et al. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2012 Jan.

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex disease that affects up to 20% of children and impacts the quality of patients and families in a significant manner. New insights into the pathophysiology of AD point to an important role of structural abnormalities in the epidermis combined with immune dysregulation. Filaggrin (FLG) is synthesized as a large precursor, profilaggrin, and is expressed in the upper layers of the epidermis. FLG plays a critical role in the epidermal barrier, and FLG mutations cause abnormal epidermal function. FLG mutations are strongly associated with early-onset, and persistent severe AD. In addition, FLG deficiency in the epidermis is related to allergic sensitization and asthma. The basic skin care including repair and protection of the skin barrier with proper hydration and topical anti-inflammatory therapy is important to control the severity of skin disease in patients with AD.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; epidermal barrier; filaggrin.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no financial or other issues that might lead to conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure
Figure
Filaggrin (FLG) expression and functions in the epidermal skin barrier. FLG is expressed in the granular layer of epidermis. Profilaggrin is dephosphorylated and cleaved by several endoproteases including caspase-14 to generate FLG, and then FLG is degraded into free amino acids (NMF) by caspase-14.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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