摘要:Basal cells from newborn rat skin epidermis were cultured on various culture matrixes, and the response of the cells to extracellular calcium was examined. When the cells were cultured on a type I collagen-coated Millipore filter to maintain clearance under the cultured cells as intact skin, the cells responded to a fluctuation in extracellular calcium and were detached from the collagen layer in a high calcium environment. In this case, protein synthesis of the cells increased calcium-dependently. In contrast, calcium-dependent protein synthesis of the cells was not detected in culture, neither on the plastic plate nor the type I collagen-coated plate. Moreover, in culture on a type I collagen-coated filter, the size of basal cells was unchanged for 2d. This should be consistent with the fact that morphological changes in cells are very gradual in vivo. On the other hand, when basal cells were cyltured either on a plastic plate or collagen-coated plate, the cells lost their normality; they were markedly enlarged for 2d of cylture.Thus, the responses of skin basal cells to extracellular calcium fluctuated according to the types of culture matrixes. In this case, keratin synthesis and a morphological change of the cells seems to be concerned with the clearance, which was established in the basal side of the cultured basal cells as intact skin.