As a cell accumulates keratinohyalin granules, it is thought that rupture of lysosomal membranes release lysosomal enzymes that eventually cause cell death. The dead and dying cells filled with mature keratin form the stratum corneum (SC). The deeper cells of the stratum corneum retain their desmosomal junctions, but as they are pushed to the surface by newly forming cells of the stratum germinativum (SG), the dead cells gradually break apart and are lost, a process called desquamation.
