title: Geometrical and topological analysis of in vivo confocal microscopy images reveals dynamic maturation of epidermal structures during the first years of life.
abstract: Reflectance confocal microscopy is successfully used in infant skin research. Infant skin structure, function, and composition are undergoing a maturation process. We aimed to uncover how the epidermal architecture and cellular topology change with time. Images were collected from three age groups of healthy infants between one and four years of age and adults. Cell centers were manually identified on the images at the stratum granulosum (SG) and stratum spinosum (SS) levels. Voronoi diagrams were used to calculate geometrical and topological parameters. Infant cell density is higher than that of adults and decreases with age. Projected cell area, cell perimeter, and average distance to the nearest neighbors increase with age but do so distinctly between the two layers. Structural entropy is different between the two strata, but remains constant with time. For all ages and layers, the distribution of the number of nearest neighbors is typical of a cooperator network architecture. The topological analysis provides evidence of the maturation process in infant skin. The differences between infant and adult are more pronounced in the SG than SS, while cell cooperation is evident in all cases of healthy skin examined.
authors.affiliation: Johnson & Johnson Santé Beauté France, 1 rue Camille Desmoulins, Issy-les-Moulineaux 92130, France.
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bensaci
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1L3, Canada.
authors.forename: Zhao Yang
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Johnson and Johnson Consumer Companies Inc., 199 Grandview Road, Skillman, New Jersey 08558, United States.
authors.forename: M Catherine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mack
authors.affiliation: British Columbia Cancer Agency, 675 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia V5Z 1L3, Canada.
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guillaud
authors.affiliation: Johnson & Johnson Santé Beauté France, 1 rue Camille Desmoulins, Issy-les-Moulineaux 92130, France.
authors.forename: Georgios N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Stamatas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004817:Epidermis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D007223:Infant; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000379:methods*; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000379:methods*