Rebuild, restore, reinnervate: do human tissue engineered dermo-epidermal skin analogs attract host nerve fibers for innervation?

PURPOSE: Tissue engineered skin substitutes are a promising tool to cover large skin defects, but little is known about reinnervation of transplants. In this experimental study, we analyzed the ingrowth of host peripheral nerve fibers into human tissue engineered dermo-epidermal skin substitutes in a rat model. Using varying cell types in the epidermal compartment, we wanted to assess the influence of epidermal cell types on reinnervation of the substitute. METHODS: We isolated keratinocytes, melanocytes, fibroblasts, and eccrine sweat gland cells from human skin biopsies. After expansion, epidermal cells were seeded on human dermal fibroblast-containing collagen type I hydrogels as follows: (1) keratinocytes only, (2) keratinocytes with melanocytes, (3) sweat gland cells. These substitutes were transplanted into full-thickness skin wounds on the back of immuno-incompetent rats and were analyzed after 3 and 8 weeks. Histological sections were examined with regard to myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fiber ingrowth using markers such as PGP9.5, NF-200, and NF-145. RESULTS: After 3 weeks, the skin substitutes of all three epidermal cell variants showed no neuronal ingrowth from the host into the transplant. After 8 weeks, we could detect an innervation of all three types of skin substitutes. However, the nerve fibers were restricted to the dermal compartment and we could not find any unmyelinated fibers in the epidermis. Furthermore, there was no distinct difference between the constructs resulting from the different cell types used to generate an epidermis. CONCLUSION: Our human tissue engineered dermo-epidermal skin substitutes demonstrate a host-derived innervation of the dermal compartment as early as 8 weeks after transplantation. Thus, our substitutes apparently have the capacity to attract nerve fibers from adjacent host tissues, which also grow into grafts and thereby potentially restore skin sensitivity

Ascorbate-induced fibroblast cell matrix: reaction of antibodies to procollagen I and III and fibronectin in an axial periodic fashion.

Fibronectin and procollagen types I and III are constituents of the extracellular matrix of human fibroblasts. Ultrastructural immunocytochemistry using the peroxidase anti-peroxidase method showed fibronectin and procollagen antibodies reacting in continuous fashion on 10 nm diameter extracellular fibrils on human fibroblasts. Intracellular localization showed an intense accumulation of procollagen within cells cultured under routine conditions. This accumulation appeared almost as if there were a blockade in secretion of procollagen under routine culture conditions. Cells treated with ascorbic acid do not have the dense intracellular accumulation of procollagens seen with the apparent blockade of secretion in cells cultured under routine conditions. Ascorbate treated cells also have a more pronounced extracellular accumulation of matrix fibronectin and procollagen constituents. At the electromicroscopic level a new 40 nm diameter fibril is formed after ascorbic acid treatment of human fibroblasts. Antibody to fibronectin and procollagen I and III are seen binding to the 40 nm diameter fibrils in a periodic or stuttered appearance. The fibronectin and procollagen antibodies react with a 70 nm axial repeat along these 40 nm fibrils formed after ascorbate treatment. These studies suggest that under routine culture conditions "precursor" fibrils of fibronectin and procollagen are formed. Ascorbic acid treatment leads to enhanced matrix formation. Ultrastructural studies clearly show antibodies to fibronectin bind to fibronectin on native collagen fibrils formed by human fibroblasts cultured with ascrobic acid. Lastly there is an asymmetric or 70 nm axial periodic distribution of fibronectin along these definitive or mature collagen fibrils formed after ascorbic acid treatment

Reversal by glucocorticoid hormones of the loss of a fibronectin and probollagen matrix around transformed human cells.

Confluent cultured human skin fibroblasts had an extracellular fibrillar matrix of fibronectin and procollagen. Human skin fibroblasts transformed by SV40 did not have such a matrix. Treatment of transformed fibroblasts with 10(-5) to 10(-8) M dexamethasone and 10(-5) to 10(-7) M cortisol, but not testosterone or progesterone, caused partial restoration of the matrix. Glucocorticoid-treated transformed human fibroblasts can serve as a model for partial reversion toward normal or differentiation of transformed human fibroblasts

A skin blister method to study epidermal nerves in peripheral nerve disease

Skin is a reservoir of sensory and autonomic nerve fibers that are potential indicators of peripheral nerve disease. Biopsies of skin have shown that sensory nerves in the most superficial layer of skin, the epidermal nerve fibers (ENFs), are reduced in patients with polyneuropathy. This report describes a minimally invasive skin blister method to isolate, image, and obtain quantitative analysis of ENFs. Blisters are made by applying a suction capsule to skin. The epidermal roof of the blister is excised, immunostained, whole mounted, and analyzed for ENF number and distribution. A reduction in number and abnormal distribution of ENFs are early indicators of peripheral nerve disease. Illustrations of skin blister and skin biopsy specimens from patients with different types of peripheral nerve disorders are included. These patients were chosen because their findings demonstrate the complementary information obtained by the blister and biopsy methods and the potential of the blister procedure to evaluate single nerve lesions and polyneuropathy and to follow the progress of ENF degeneration and regeneration

Fast Adapting Mechanoreceptors are Important for Force Control in Precision Grip but not for Sensorimotor Memory

Sensory feedback from cutaneous mechanoreceptors in the fingertips is important in effective object manipulation, allowing appropriate scaling of grip and load forces during precision grip. However the role of mechanoreceptor subtypes in these tasks remains incompletely understood. To address this issue, psychophysical tasks which may specifically assess function of type I rapidly adapting (RAI) and slowly adapting (SAI) mechanoreceptors were used with object manipulation experiments to examine the regulation of grip force control in an experimental model of graded reduction in tactile sensitivity (healthy volunteers wearing two layers of latex gloves). With gloves, tactile sensitivity decreased significantly from 1.9 ± 0.4μm to 12.3 ± 2.2μm in the Bumps task assessing function of RAI afferents, but not in a grating orientation task assessing SAI afferents (1.6±0.1mm to 1.8±0.2mm). Six axis force/torque sensors measured peak grip (PGF) and load forces (PLF) generated by the fingertips during a grip-lift task. With gloves there was a significant increase of PGF (14±6%), PLF (17±5%) and grip and load force rates (26±8%; 20±8%). A variable weight series task was used to examine sensorimotor memory. There was a 20% increase in PGF when the lift of a light object was preceded by a heavy relative to a light object. This relationship was not significantly altered when lifting with gloves, suggesting that the addition of gloves did not change sensorimotor memory effects. We conclude that RAI fibres may be important for the online force scaling but not for the build-up of a sensorimotor memory

Fibronectin presence in native collagen fibrils of human fibroblasts: immunoperoxidase and immunoferritin localization.

peer reviewedFibronectin is a major constituent of the fibroblast extracellular matrix. Fibronectin binds to collagen, mediates fibroblast adhesion to collagen, and is synthesized and secreted into the medium of cultured fibroblasts. Affinity-purified antibodies to fibronectin and collagen were localized using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method or with ferritin-coupled secondary antibodies. Using human fibroblasts cultured under routine conditions, fibronectin and procollagen I react in a nonperiodic manner with: 1) approximately 10 nm extracellular fibrils, 2) cell membrane, and 3) membrane-associated vesicles. All fibrils react with both antibodies, suggesting some form of codistribution of fibronectin and collagen in these fibrils. Treatment with ascorbate leads to the development of a larger diameter extracellular fibril, approximately 40 nm in diameter. These large diameter fibrils are clearly collagen fibrils as documented by the procollagen antibody reaction. Importantly, fibronectin is bound to or a constituent of these "native" or cellular made collagen fibrils. Fibronectin and procollagen antibodies localized with the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method have a 70 nm axial repeat of reaction product on ascorbate-treated fibroblasts. Localization of antibodies with ferritin-labeled secondary antibodies is less satisfactory, but supports the basic observations made with the unlabeled antibody enzyme method. This observation rules out any potential criticisms. Although it is more difficult to observe with immunoferritin, there is an indication that antibodies to fibronectin react with an axial periodicity on cellular produced collagen fibrils