Three‐dimensional analyses of individual corneocytes with atomic force microscope: morphological changes related to age, location and to the pathologic skin conditions

Kashibuchi, Nobuo; Hirai, Yoshikazu; O’goshi, Ken-ichiro; Tagami, Hachiro

doi:10.1034/j.1600-0846.2002.00348.x

Cited by 76 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…21 While geometrical parameters change with age, structural entropy appears to be preserved during the maturation processes of infant epidermal structure. Since our focus has been so far on healthy skin, it is tempting to hypothesize that this parameter may be altered in certain disease cases, particularly in hyper-proliferative disorders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometrical and topological analysis ofin vivoconfocal microscopy images reveals dynamic maturation of epidermal structures during the first years of life

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Reflectance confocal microscopy is successfully used in infant skin research. Infant skin structure, function, and composition are undergoing a maturation process. We aimed to uncover how the epidermal architecture and cellular topology change with time. Images were collected from three age groups of healthy infants between one and four years of age and adults. Cell centers were manually identified on the images at the stratum granulosum (SG) and stratum spinosum (SS) levels. Voronoi diagrams were used to calculate geometrical and topological parameters. Infant cell density is higher than that of adults and decreases with age. Projected cell area, cell perimeter, and average distance to the nearest neighbors increase with age but do so distinctly between the two layers. Structural entropy is different between the two strata, but remains constant with time. For all ages and layers, the distribution of the number of nearest neighbors is typical of a cooperator network architecture. The topological analysis provides evidence of the maturation process in infant skin. The differences between infant and adult are more pronounced in the SG than SS, while cell cooperation is evident in all cases of healthy skin examined.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geometrical and topological analysis ofin vivoconfocal microscopy images reveals dynamic maturation of epidermal structures during the first years of life

et al. 2015

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“…This has been traced back to differences in cell proliferation by Plewig [17], Kashibuchi et al [18] and Sakai et al [19]. In this study we also investigated two classes of subjects, i.e., healthy and diabetic subjects.…”

Section: Factors Influencing Mean Corneocyte Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They observed a villous structure of cells from thick skin with their surface pointing towards the dermis, but did not study the counterpart surface. Here, by means of a simple procedure using a conductive adhesive tape, SEM measurements of the dehydrated corneocytes surface, towards the in-and outside of the body, were carried out successfully for thick and thin skin samples, showing significant morphological differences in their ultra-structures [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. Ex vivo corneocyte structures were investigated in order to better understand also the mechanisms that regulate desquamation at the epidermal surface, as well as mechanical stability of the stratum corneum as studied shortly before by Wu et al [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Ultra-Structure and Size of Human Corneocytes from Upper Stratum Corneum Layers of Normal and Diabetic Subjects with Discussion of Cohesion Aspects

Licht¹,

Heise²

2015

J Diabetes Metab

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Background: During the final stage of differentiation of cornified squamous epithelia like the human skin epidermis, anucleated corneocytes are formed. Formation of the horny layer and its ongoing desquamation are fundamental processes leading to the formation of an efficient epidermal barrier. Materials and methods:For a better understanding of the desquamation process, the role of corneocyte surface ultra-structure has been investigated using a special preparation technique for scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Human morphologically different corneocytes from the stratum corneum of the fingertip, the thenar eminence (thick skin), and the wrist below the carpus (thin skin) of normal and diabetic subjects were obtained by adhesive tape stripping. Results:The inside surface structure of corneocytes from thick skin shows prominent nubs, which are broader and more extended than those of thin skin. Towards their outside, corneocytes were flat with cavities as indentations of the nubs from neighboured cells providing clues on the mechanical strength of the 'intercellular stickiness'. As the size of thin skin corneocytes for diabetic subjects was also studied, it was found that their area was slightly nonlinearly dependent on age.Conclusion: Accordingly to a reduced proliferation and differentiation rate, as postulated for diabetic persons, differences in size were as expected but statistically not significant, compared with corneocytes under normal homeostasis conditions. For discussion is a model, for which the interwoven cellular connectivity provides additional mechanical strength for the stratum corneum in thick skin.

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“…However, due to the typical thickness of corneocytes (around 200-500 nm), investigation at the level of single corneocytes by optical microscopy is rather difficult, especially if changes in thickness need to be measured. Atomic force microscopy, on the other hand, has the resolution power but enables only investigation of single cell, which swell about 50% in thickness [8,9], but never the complete SC. Since both methods have shown that corneocytes and the entire SC preferentially swell only vertically, the question arose whether the skin barrier remains stable with such massive volume changes, especially as Warner et al [10] had shown that extended water exposure disrupts the SC ( fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dead but Highly Dynamic – The Stratum corneum Is Divided into Three Hydration Zones

Richter

Peuckert

Sattler

et al. 2004

Skin Pharmacol Physiol

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Topically applied water exerts mechanical stress on individual corneocytes as well as on the whole stratum corneum (SC), resulting in an alteration of barrier function. In this study we used complete skin biopsies and showed that the SC reacts to water stress as a highly optimized and well-regulated structure against osmotic changes. Following a relatively new cryo-processing protocol for cryo-SEM, it is possible to reliably maintain and investigate the hydrated state of the SC and individual corneocytes after treatment with solutions of different ionic strength. Treatment with distilled water results in swelling of SC cells together with formation of massive water inclusions between adjacent cell layers. Treatment with 5–20% NaCl reveals three different hydration zones within the SC: Corneocytes near the live-dead transition zone can swell to nearly double their thickness. The second zone is the most compact, as the corneocytes here show the smallest thickness variation with all treatments. Within the outermost zone, again a massive swelling and loosening of intracellular filament packing can be observed. We therefore conclude that the SC itself is subdivided into three functional zones with individual water penetration and binding potentials. Since the second zone remains nearly unaffected by water stress, we propose that this zone hosts the functional SC barrier.

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Three‐dimensional analyses of individual corneocytes with atomic force microscope: morphological changes related to age, location and to the pathologic skin conditions

Abstract: To estimate the differentiation speed of the corneocytes, we suggest using their flatness index rather than the two-dimensional cell surface area, because the former is a concept that takes into account the three-dimensional characteristics of corneocytes.

Cited by 76 publications

References 18 publications

Geometrical and topological analysis ofin vivoconfocal microscopy images reveals dynamic maturation of epidermal structures during the first years of life

Geometrical and topological analysis ofin vivoconfocal microscopy images reveals dynamic maturation of epidermal structures during the first years of life

Surface Ultra-Structure and Size of Human Corneocytes from Upper Stratum Corneum Layers of Normal and Diabetic Subjects with Discussion of Cohesion Aspects

Dead but Highly Dynamic – The Stratum corneum Is Divided into Three Hydration Zones

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