Using a mathematical model of the epidermis, we propose a mechanism of epidermal homeostasis mediated by calcium dynamics. We show that calcium dynamics beneath the stratum corneum can reduce spatio-temporal fluctuations of the layered structure of the epidermis. We also demonstrate that our model can reproduce experimental results that the recovery from a barrier disruption is faster when the disrupted site is exposed to air. In particular, simulation results indicate that the recovery speed depends on the size of barrier disruption.
Keywords: Dermatology; Dynamical system; Reaction-diffusion system.
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