title: Three-Dimensional Histological Structures of the Human Dermis.
abstract: Spatial information has been shown to be critical for cell differentiation and function. Therefore, a better understanding of skin microstructures is very important for biomimetic and bioengineered scaffolds of engineering skin. The purpose of the study was to generate collagen/elastin-based three-dimensional (3D) images of human dermis to further understand the microstructures of the skin, which is believed to be helpful in the fabrication of bionic engineered skin. Skin samples were fixed, embedded, serially sectioned, stained with aldehyde-fuchsin, and photographed as serial panoramas. Dermal subregions were divided according to dermal depth and distance to hair follicle. The porosity, pore diameters, and wall thickness of human acellular dermal matrix (ADM) were measured by microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). Three-dimensional reconstructed images of collagen and elastic fibers were generated. Our results showed that there were fewer elastic fibers in the subregions close to hair follicles than in the subregions far away from hair follicles (p<0.001), but the collagen fibers were evenly distributed. Both collagen and elastic fibers were found in fewer numbers in the layers either close to the epidermis or close to the hypodermis. The mean proportions of collagen fibers and elastic fibers in the whole dermis were 28.96%±14.63% and 8.06%±3.75%, respectively. The porosity of ADM calculated by micro-CT was 68.3%±5.8%. The mean pore diameter of ADM was 131.2±96.8 μm, and the wall thickness of pores was 207.2±251.7 μm. This study represents for the first time that 3D histological cutaneous structures have been presented, which may be helpful for the next generation of skin engineering.
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Yuzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Weifeng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Zhihui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Haisheng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Junyi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Jianglin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Sisi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Rixing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Gaoxing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: 1 State Key Laboratory of Trauma, Burn and Combined Injury, Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University , Chongqing, China .|2 Chongqing Key Laboratory for Disease Proteomics , Chongqing, China .
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D020405:Dermis / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004548:Elasticity; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008297:Male; D016062:Porosity; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography