Role of DLX3 in primary human keratinocytes

DLX3 is expressed by differentiated cells in human skin and it has a functional role in epidermal maturation. We used microarray data analysis to assess gene expression in keratinocytes as consequence of DLX3 expression. We identified a specific subset of genes which are involved in cell cycle regulation and modulate the differentiation program in epidermal cells. Normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK) were isolated from foreskin and maintained in proliferating media. Cells were transfected with a retroviral vector expressing DLX3 (DLx3/Flag). No transduced keratinocytes (KERA) or Empty Vector (VECTOR) transduced cells were considered as controls. RNA samples were collected 24 hours later used for hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays.