Role of Znf750 in skin development

The skin epidermis is a constantly renewing stratified epithelial tissue that provides essential protective barrier functions. The major barrier is at the outermost layers of the epidermis, formed by terminally differentiated keratinocytes reinforced by proteins and lipids of their cornified envelope (CE), and disruptions to this process characterizes common skin disorders. ZNF750 is an epithelial transcription factor essential for in vitro keratinocyte differentiation, whose autosomal dominant mutation in humans causes psoriasis-like skin disease. Here, we report epidermal-specific Znf750 conditional knockout mouse model utilized to uncover the role of Znf750 in epidermal development. We show that deletion of Znf750 in the developing skin does not block epidermal differentiation, suggesting in vivo compensatory feedback mechanisms, yet results in impaired barrier function and perinatal lethality. Molecular dissection uncovered ultrastructural defects in the differentiated layers of the epidermis, accompanied by alterations in the expression of ZNF750-dependent genes encoding for key proteins and lipids involved in CE formation, including gene subsets known to be mutated in skin disease with impaired barrier function. Newborn mouse epidermal cells were purified fromZnf750 knock out and control mice, and RNA was analyzed by RNA-seq.