ABSTRACT
Desmosomes are intercellular junctions that provide strong adhesion between epidermal keratinocytes. This function is rapidly modulated from calcium independent to calcium dependent upon wounding of an epithelial cell sheet. This modulation was found to be signaled by an isoenzyme named protein kinase C alpha [PKC alpha] which alters the adhesive state of desmosomes at the wound edges. Specimens from intact and wounded mice skin were taken and prepared for immunohistochemical studies and the immune reactions of both desmosomes and PKC alpha were examined, recorded and discussed. It is hypothesized that wounding triggers a stimulus that activates PKC alpha which through a phosphorylation of certain desmosomal proteins modulates desmosomal adhesion. This breaks intercellular contacts enabling keratinocytes to migrate and reepithelialize the wound