Background: Basigin is a glycosylated transmembrane protein belonging to th
e immunoglobulin superfamily and is thought to be associated with cell deve
lopment and differentiation. We investigated the relation between Basigin e
xpression and epidermal development in this study.
Methods: Basigin expression was immunohistochemically investigated during o
rganogenesis of human skin and in human basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
Results: Human fetal skin showed negative staining at 10 weeks of gestation
. At 20 weeks, the cytoplasm and membranes of adnexal germ and hair follicu
lar cells were strongly positive, while epidermal basal cells showed weakly
positive staining. After birth, basal cells, suprabasal cells, anagen hair
follicular cells and eccrine glandular cells showed positive staining. Mem
branes of basal cells expressed more Basigin compared to other cell compone
nts. Basigin was not detectable in granular cells and telogen hair follicul
ar cells. Sixteen of 30 BCCs were entirely negative for Basigin. However, c
ells at budding areas of tumor masses were positive in 14 of the 30 BCCs.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that 1) Basigin is associated with epid
ermal proliferation and differentiation, 2) most parts of BCCs might be der
ived from early fetal epidermal basal cells, and 3) that a part, only the b
udding area of BCCs, has the characteristics of epithelial germ cells.