title: An age-structured model of epidermis growth.
abstract: We propose a model with age and space structure for the evolution of the supra-basal epidermis. The model includes different types of cells: proliferating cells, differentiated cells, corneous cells, and apoptotic cells. We assume that all cells move with the same velocity and that the local volume fraction, occupied by the cells is constant in space and time. This hypothesis, based on experimental evidence, allows us to determine a constitutive equation for the cell velocity. We focus on the stationary case of the problem, that takes the form of a quasi-linear evolution problem of first order, and we investigate conditions under which there is a solution.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Analisi dei Sistemi ed Informatica A. Ruberti, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Viale Manzoni 30, Rome, Italy. gandolfi@iasi.cnr.it
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gandolfi
authors.forename: Mimmo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iannelli
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marinoschi
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D000078404:Epidermal Cells; D004817:Epidermis / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008954:Models, Biological