The Epidermis

The Epidermis documents the proceedings of a symposium that explored in detail the fundamental aspects of the epidermis and the still poorly understood process of keratinization. The Division of Dermatology, University Extension and the School of Medicine of the University of California at Los Angeles agreed to sponsor the conference and offered the University's Residential Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead for the meeting place. This volume is a source book of basic dermatologic thought and information. More than a book of dermatology, this volume makes a singular contribution to our knowledge of keratinization. The volume contains 37 papers and opens with an introductory chapter on keratinization, focusing on the history of the keratohyalin granules, the role of lipids in the orderly keratinization of the epidermis, and the desquamation process. Subsequent chapters present studies on topics such as the behavior of the skin; the effects of various experimental conditions on keratinization in organ culture; and the localization and the regional variability in the concentration epidermal enzymes.