Evaluation of in vitro human skin models for studying effects of external stressors and stimuli and developing treatment modalities

Abstract

Skin is exposed to a variety of potential stressors and stimulators that may impact homeostasis, healing, tumor development, inflammation, and irritation. As such it is important to understand the impact that these stimuli have on skin health and function, and to develop therapeutic interventions. Animal experiments have been the gold standard for testing the safety and efficacy of therapeutics and observing disease pathology for centuries. However, complex ethics, costs, time consumption, and interspecies variation limit the transferability of results to humans and reduce their repeatability and reliability. Furthermore, traditional 2D cell studies are not representative of human tissue. Sk..