Analyzing the Growth of Human Epidermis Equivalents in the Absence of Epidermal Growth Factors

Abstract

Bioengineering of human skin equivalent (HSE) organoids to closely replicate real human skin in vitro is being developed for multiple applications in the medical and scientific fields, such as skin grafting for burn patients or researching treatments for Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC). This study analyzed the effects of growing human skin organoids in-vitro on a cadaver dermis, using a medium with no epithelial growth factor (EGF), over the course of 7 days. Few studies have been carried out to examine the effects of these parameters. Microscopic pictures comparing no EGF, control (with EGF), and human skin were taken, along with measurements of cell density and average thickness of the living epidermal layer. Our found average cornified thickness of the control organoids was 68.6 pixels (about 1.8 x 10^4 um) and 128.8 pixels (3.4 x 10^4 um) for the no EGF group. The human skin had an average cornified thickness of 47.4 pixels (1.2 x 10^4 um). No EGF resembled human skin better in this aspect. However, no EGF lacked a healthy formation of the top layer in the microscopic pictures and was farther in cell density than that of EGF. A significant value between no EGF and EGF for cell density was calculated (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that the absence of EGF is a limitation in mimicking human skin as close as possible. As a whole, this study confirms the necessity of EGF in order to create a more accurate HSE organoid.