Three-Dimensional Histological Structures of the Human Dermis
- 1 September 2015
- journal article
- Published by Mary Ann Liebert Inc in Tissue Engineering, Part C: Methods
- Vol. 21 (9), 932-944
- https://doi.org/10.1089/ten.tec.2014.0578
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.Keywords
This publication has 39 references indexed in Scilit:
- Cutaneous Wound Healing After Treatment with Plant-Derived Human Recombinant Collagen Flowable GelTissue Engineering, Part A, 2013
- Current progress of skin tissue engineering: Seed cells, bioscaffolds, and construction strategiesBurns & Trauma, 2013
- The structure and function of the stratum corneumInternational Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2012
- Adaptation of the dermal collagen structure of human skin and scar tissue in response to stretch: An experimental studyWound Repair and Regeneration, 2012
- Automated Estimation of Collagen Fibre Dispersion in the Dermis and its Contribution to the Anisotropic Behaviour of SkinAnnals of Biomedical Engineering, 2012
- Quantified characterization of human cutaneous normal scar using multiphoton microscopyJournal of Biophotonics, 2009
- The effect of composition and microstructure on the viscoelastic properties of dermisJournal of Biomechanics, 2009
- A Comparison of Tissue-Engineered Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Matrices in a Human Wound ModelTissue Engineering, 2006
- Collagen morphology in human skin and scar tissue: no adaptations in response to mechanical loading at jointsBurns, 2003
- The collagen fibers of the anteroinferior capsulolabrum have multiaxial orientation to resist shoulder dislocationJournal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 2003