Once the cells reach the outer layers of the stratum corneum, they begin to be shed. On average, a keratinocyte spends 2 weeks in the stratum corneum before being shed from the skin surface in a process called desquamation. Shedding is achieved by the final degradation of the corneodesmosomes by proteases that destroy the desmoglein-1 protein.
Keratinization is especially important in the diseases of cornification. Many skin diseases have been found to involve defects in one or more proteins that are critical in the process of cornification. Examples are lamellar ichthyosis, which is caused by a defect in the transglutaminase I enzyme, and Vohwinkel’s syndrome (keratoma hereditarium mutilans), which results from a genetic mutation in the loricrin protein and a resultant defective CCE.
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