• A El-Ghalbzouri, A J Van Den Bogaerdt, J Kempenaar, and M Ponec.
• Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Sylvius Laboratory, PO Box 9503, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
• Br. J. Dermatol. 2004 Mar 1; 150 (3): 444-54.

BackgroundWound healing of deep and extensive burns can induce hypertrophic scar formation. During the early steps of wound healing fibroblasts migrate into the wounded area. Fibroblastic cells present in tissues other than dermis may also migrate into the wounded area and participate in the wound healing process.ObjectivesTo examine the influence of human fibroblastic cells derived from subcutaneous fat or dermis on epidermal morphogenesis in vitro.MethodsWe prepared human skin equivalents (HSEs) made of a collagen type I matrix populated either with dermal fibroblasts or adipose tissue-derived cells (ADCs), on top of which keratinocytes were seeded and subsequently grown at the air-liquid interface.ResultsA fully differentiated epidermis was formed on matrices populated with ADCs. However, the HSE formed differed in a number of features from HSE generated with dermal fibroblasts. The major differences included: marked contraction of the dermal matrix, low lateral migration of keratinocytes, high keratin 17 expression indicating increased keratinocyte activation, delayed deposition of collagen IV at the epidermal/matrix junction, accumulation of alpha-smooth muscle actin-positive cells only underneath the epidermal compartment and positioning of these cells in a direction parallel to the epidermal compartment. The latter two phenomena have also been found in scar tissue.ConclusionsThe possibility of generating HSEs with different cell types represents an attractive approach for in vitro studies focusing on the mechanism of wound healing.

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