Barrier properties of an N/TERT-based human skin equivalent

Tissue Eng Part A. 2014 Nov;20(21-22):3041-9. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2014.0011. Epub 2014 Aug 4.

Abstract

Human skin equivalents (HSEs) can be considered a valuable tool to study aspects of human skin, including the skin barrier, or to perform chemical or toxicological screenings. HSEs are three-dimensional skin models that are usually established using primary keratinocytes and closely mimic human skin. The use of primary keratinocytes has several drawbacks, including a limited in vitro life span and large donor-donor variation. This makes them less favorable for in vitro toxicity screenings. Usage of an established keratinocyte cell line circumvents these drawbacks and enables the generation of easy-to-generate and reproducible HSEs, which can be used for pharmacological and/or toxicological screenings. For such screenings, a proper barrier function is required. In this study, we investigated the barrier properties of HSEs established with the keratinocyte cell line N/TERT (N-HSEs). N-HSEs showed comparable tissue morphology and expression of several epidermal proteins compared with HSEs established with primary keratinocytes. Our results clearly demonstrate that N-HSEs not only contain several stratum corneum (SC) barrier properties similar to HSEs, including the presence of the long periodicity phase and a comparable SC permeability, but also show some differences in lipid composition. Nonetheless, the similarities in barrier properties makes N/TERT cells a promising alternative for primary keratinocytes to generate HSEs.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 4-Aminobenzoic Acid / pharmacokinetics*
  • Absorption, Physicochemical
  • Biocompatible Materials / chemistry
  • Cell Line
  • Epidermal Cells*
  • Epidermis / metabolism*
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Humans
  • Keratinocytes / classification
  • Keratinocytes / cytology*
  • Keratinocytes / metabolism*
  • Skin Absorption / physiology*
  • Skin, Artificial*
  • Telomerase / metabolism

Substances

  • Biocompatible Materials
  • TERT protein, human
  • Telomerase
  • 4-Aminobenzoic Acid