Comparison of photodamage in non-pigmented and pigmented human skin equivalents exposed to repeated ultraviolet radiation to investigate the role of melanocytes in skin photoprotection.

Daily solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation has an important impact on skin health. Understanding the initial events of the UV-induced response is critical to prevent deleterious conditions. However, studies in human volunteers have ethical, technical, and economic implications that make skin equivalents a valuable platform to investigate mechanisms related to UV exposure to the skin. Well-characterised pigmented and non-pigmented skin equivalents that contain human dermal fibroblasts, endogenous secreted extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) and a well-differentiated and stratified epidermis have been developed. These constructs were exposed to UV radiation for ×5 consecutive days with a physiologically relevant UV dose and subsequently analysed using appropriate end-points to ascertain photodamage to the skin. We have described that repeated irradiation of full-thickness human skin equivalents in a controlled laboratory environment can recreate UV-associated responses We have found a differential response when using the same UV doses in non-pigmented and pigmented full-thickness skin equivalents, emphasising the role of melanocytes in photoprotection.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024 De Los Santos Gomez, Costello, Goncalves and Przyborski.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Author SP collaborates and acts as a technical consultant for company Reprocell Europe Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.