Elastin expression in a newly developed full-thickness skin equivalent.
The resilience of the human skin is mediated by elastic fibres mainly consisting of fibrillins and elastin. In order to establish a model system to study the impact of cosmetic and pharmaceutical compounds on the elastic system in vitro, we analyzed the expression of elastin in a newly developed full-thickness skin model. After a 5-week cultivation period the skin model developed a fully differentiated epidermis including a stratum corneum. The dermis contains fibroblasts embedded in extracellular matrix proteins. The models were viable until at least 51 days at the air-liquid interface (ALI) culture. Using immunohistochemistry we detected elastin first on day 7 of ALI. With proceeding culture time, elastin-positive fibres of different lengths and distribution patterns accumulated in the dermal compartment. Elastin mRNA expression started on day 7 of ALI, increased until day 10 and then dropped to a level comparable to that of day 7. Our results demonstrate that in our full-thickness skin model an in vivo-like elastic system, which clearly mimics at least two subsets of dermal elastic fibres, is generated. This physiological property favours the model as a promising animal-free approach to study those processes leading to an environment- and age-dependent decrease in skin elasticity.
Mewes
K R
KR
Phenion GmbH & Co. KG, Düsseldorf, Germany. karsten.mewes@henkel.com
Raus
M
M
Bernd
A
A
Zöller
N N
NN
Sättler
A
A
Graf
R
R
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen; D004549:Elastin / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*
D003094:Collagen; D004549:Elastin