Reconstruction of Human Epidermis in Culture

Commonly used acronym: RHE

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Scope of the method

The Method relates to
  • Human health
The Method is situated in
  • Basic Research
Type of method
  • In vitro - Ex vivo
This method makes use of
  • Human derived cells / tissues / organs
Specify the type of cells/tissues/organs
Human epidermal keratinocytes

Description

Method keywords
  • skin
  • epidermis
  • Reconstructed human epidermis
  • cutaneous toxicology
  • epidermal irritation
  • epidermal infection
Scientific area keywords
  • skin biology
  • dermatology
  • Infection models
Method description
  • Method to culture human epidermal keratinocytes and seed them for tissue reconstruction at the air-liquid interface over a polycarbonate porous membrane.
Lab equipment
  • - Culture hood,
  • - Culture incubator,
  • - Refrigerated centrifuge,
  • - Volt-ohm meter,
  • - Inverted phase-contrast microscope.
Method status
  • Published in peer reviewed journal

Pros, cons & Future potential

Advantages
  • - This method allows production of human epidermal organoids,
  • - Other cell types like melanocytes can be added to the reconstruction,
  • - It allows studies of epidermal barrier in normal and pathological conditions.
Challenges
  • There is no immune cell of the adaptative system in the model.
Modifications
  • This reconstruction can be performed over synthetic dermis.
Future & Other applications
  • The model is increasingly used to mimick epidermal pathologies, either inflammatory, infectious, or cancerous.

References, associated documents and other information

Associated documents
Poumay2004-ADR296-203.pdf
De Vuyst 2014 Epidermal cells 191.pdf
Frankart2012-EXD21-871.pdf

Contact person

Yves Poumay

Organisations

Université de Namur (UNamur)
NARILIS
Belgium
Walloon