granular cell of epidermis
granular cell of epidermis
A keratinocyte located in the stratum granulosum of the epidermis, characterized by the presence of keratohyalin granules containing filaggrin—which aggregate keratin filament —and by lamellar granules that secrete lipids and enzymes essential for forming the skin’s waterproof barrier. As these cells progress toward the surface, they adopt a flattened morphology and initiate keratinization to become corneocyte and form the protective stratum corneum. In human epidermis, granular keratinocytes are transcriptomically distinguished by high expression of differentiation markers such as DSC1, KRT2, IVL, and TGM3 (Wang et al., 2020), and LOR, FLG, and SPINK5 (Cheng et al., 2018).