Skin culture models serve as a key tool for understanding normal and diseased skin in well-controlled culture systems that empower investigators to probe skin biology with a rigorous model for mechanistic analysis. 3D skin culture models using primary cells are especially powerful as they closely mimic skin morphogenesis, differentiation, and mechanical properties, leading to a physiologically-relevant tissue architecture. This model is particularly applicable to study mechanisms that govern tissue development, homeostasis and disease. The Skin Tissue Engineering and Morphology (STEM) Core enables SBDRC researchers to apply primary skin culture models in their research program. Towards this aim, the STEM Core provides training, services, specialized equipment, and materials for the initiation, maintenance, processing, and analysis of primary human skin cell cultures, i.e., keratinocytes, melanocytes, fibroblasts, neurons, and immune cells (with the TEST IT Core). The STEM Core also generates short- and long-term mouse keratinocyte cultures for studies aimed at defining the cellular and molecular basis of skin defects evident in engineered mouse models. Users have access to a large supply of primary human keratinocytes isolated from neonatal foreskin, female and male adult skin, and a library of patient keratinocytes. We endeavor to maintain a diverse cell bank with donors of various demographics (age, gender, race, body site, and disease). In collaboration with GET iN Core, the STEM Core optimized methods for viral, pharmacological, and genetic reprogramming of primary skin cells, including induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Our efforts will also focus on investigator-driven research and development to customize 3D cultures and extend their applicability to address multiple aspects of skin biology from a variety of disciplines including allergy, drug discovery, materials engineering, and chemistry. Training and provision of 3D organotypic models of human epidermis established from control and patient skin cells allows investigators to address skin biology in an architecturally appropriate manner where multiple cell types can interact with one another.
