Blank Spots in the Map of Human Skin: The Challenge for Xenotransplantation

Abstract

Most of the knowledge about human skin homeostasis, development, wound healing, and diseases has been accumulated from human skin biopsy analysis by transferring from animal models and using different culture systems. Human-to-mouse xenografting is one of the fundamental approaches that allows the skin to be studied in vivo and evaluate the ongoing physiological processes in real time. Humanized animals permit the actual techniques for tracing cell fate, clonal analysis, genetic modifications, and drug discovery that could never be employed in humans. This review recapitulates the novel facts about mouse skin self-renewing, regeneration, and pathology, raises issues regarding the gaps in our understanding of the same options in human skin, and postulates the challenges for human skin xenografting.

Advancements in xenotransplantation: paving the way for revolutionary developments in reconstructive plastic surgery

“…Skin xenotransplantation, a focus within reconstructive plastic surgery, has undergone significant evolution. Early xenografts faced rapid rejection, but recent advances in swine-to-non-human primate models show xenografts surviving up to 30 days without maintenance immunosuppression 6 , 7 . These developments open new possibilities for treating patients with extensive burns, offering living, functional skin xenotransplants with clinically relevant shelf-lives.…”