Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/umls/id/C1516142
NCI: The differentiation of keratinocytes constantly replenishes the upper layers of human skin we lose each day. One factor that contributes to terminal keratinocyte differentiation is increased levels of intracellular calcium. Adding calcium to the medium of cultured keratinocytes elevates intracellular calcium and triggers differentiation. Intracellular calcium levels are also increased in response to phospholipase C activation, producing IP3 and releasing calcium from stores in the ER. Intracellular calcium alters multiple signaling pathways, one of which is binding to calmodulin to activate the serine-threonine protein phosphatase calcineurin. Calcineurin dephosphorylates and activates the transcription factor NFAT and both calcineurin and NFAT are expressed in differentiating keratinocytes. Activated NFAT can regulate transcription through binding its own cognate DNA binding site. One marker of keratinocyte differentiation, the p21 gene, is activated by NFAT by a different mechanism, with NFAT activatin