Influence of cleansing on stratum corneum tryptic enzyme in human skin.

Desquamation in human skin is a well-balanced process of de novo production of corneocytes and their shedding from the skin surface. The proteolysis of corneodesmosomes is an important step in the final desquamation process. In the degradation of these adhesion molecules, the stratum corneum tryptic enzyme (SCTE) plays a key role.