Abstract. Utrophin protein was discovered to localize to the neuromuscular junctions and is thought to provide a critical linkage between integral proteins bound to the extracellular matrix outside the cell and the actin cytoskeleton inside the cell. Clinical implications of this protein include the upregulation of utrophin as a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disease in which utrophin's homologue (dystrophin) is functionally absent. In addition, utrophin gene expression is reduced in a variety of cancers. This study set out to identify whether utrophin is expressed within the epidermis—the top layer of skin. To date, four unique mRNA transcripts have been characterized for the human UTRN gene, supporting translation of two full-length utrophin proteins (utrophin A and utrophin B) and two short isoforms (Up 140 and Up71). All four of these human utrophin transcripts were detected within human epidermis using reverse-transcriptase PCR performed on RNA purified from human epidermis. In addition...