Isolation and characterization of horny cell membrane.

The cornified cell membrane and thickened marginal band were obtained from human stratum corneum by a new, faster procedure involving extraction, tripsinization, and density gradient centrifugation. Observations revealed a fine membranous structure with a thickened inner surface of approximately 150 A (marginal band). Each of the membranous samples contained a level of half-cystines markedly higher in amount than that of earlier findings by Matotsy and Matotsy [5]. The samples also contained high amounts of glutamic acid and lysine residues many of which constitute the epsilon-(gamma-glutamyl) lysine cross-linkages of the cell membrane. This study presents the simple isolation procedure and its results highlight the high content of half-cystines in the basic membrane fraction. In addition, the study reveals the importance of S-S cross-linkages during the formation of the cell membrane.