title: Multiphoton microscopy study of the morphological and quantity changes of collagen and elastic fiber components in keloid disease.
abstract: Multiphoton microscopy was used to study the extracellular matrix of keloid at the molecular level without tissue fixation and staining. Direct imaging of collagen and elastin was achieved by second harmonic generation and two-photon excited fluorescence, respectively. The morphology and quantity of collagen and elastin in keloid were characterized and quantitatively analyzed in comparison to normal skin. The study demonstrated that in keloid, collagen content increased in both the upper dermis and the deep dermis, while elastin mostly showed up in the deep dermis and its quantity is higher compared to normal skin. This suggests the possibility that abnormal fibroblasts synthesized an excessive amount of collagen and elastin at the beginning of keloid formation, corresponding to the observed deep dermis, while after a certain time point, the abnormal fibroblast produced mostly collagen, corresponding to the observed upper dermis. The morphology of collagen and elastin in keloid was disrupted and presented different variations. In the deep dermis, elastic fibers showed node structure, while collagen showed obviously regular gaps between adjacent bundles. In the upper dermis, collagen bundles aligned in a preferred direction, while elastin showed as sparse irregular granules. This new molecular information provided fresh insight about the development process of keloid.
authors.affiliation: Fujian Normal University, Institute of Laser and Optoelectronics Technology, Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Key Laboratory of OptoElectronic Science and Technology for Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fuzhou 350007, China.
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shuangmu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.forename: Xingshan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiaoqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Liqin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Shusen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Bifang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Haishan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003094:Collagen / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007627:Keloid / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D036641:Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen