In vitro human skin equivalents to study cell competition
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Generation of in vitro human skin equivalents to study cell competition in the epidermal tissue of the skin
IRAS ID
301552
Contact name
Eugenia Piddini
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Cell competition is a mechanism whereby cells that are less fit or misspecified (“losers”) are removed from a tissue when close to cells that are fitter or correctly specified (“winners”). Cell competition plays a role in tissue development, but also in adult tissue homeostasis and cancer. Cell competition has been hypothesised to play a role in the interplay between cells carrying tumour promoting mutations and surrounding wild type cells, leading to positive selection and expansion of pre-cancerous clones.
In order to study cell competition in the epithelial layer of the skin (the epidermis), we aim to use a human skin equivalent (HSE) system that phenotypically mimics the biology of the natural human skin while offering the flexibility of an in vitro system. To build HSE we will use human skin to prepare de-epidermised dermis (DED). This will be used as dermal equivalent, i.e. as a scaffold where we will seed separately sourced human keratinocytes, which will grow and differentiate to form the stratified layers of the epidermis.
The use of this system will offer insights into the mechanisms of cell competition that will be relevant for the skin, and for other epithelial tissues, for example those less accessible for in vitro studies.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/YH/0137
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2022
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion