The epidermal engine: a commentary on epidermopoiesis, desquamation and their interrelationships.
Synopsis The physiology and methods for study of epidermal cell production are reviewed. The importance of desquamation to any consideration of epidermal cell population size is stressed. Techniques for the measurement of the rate of desquamation are described with particular emphasis on quantitative dansyl chloride clearance time methods. Although the rates of cell production and cell loss must be related, the possibility of aberrations from a strict equivalence are discussed. Finally, the questions of the control of epidermopoiesis and the changes that occur with ageing are discussed. La fonction épidermique.
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Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff CF4 4XN, UK.