DSpace Repository :: Browsing by Author "Janssen, Hans"

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Characterization of the epidermal-dermal junction in hiPSC-derived skin organoids
(2022) Ramovs, Veronika; Janssen, Hans; Fuentes, Ignacia; Pitaval, Amandine; Rachidi, Walid; Chuva de Sousa Lopes, Susana M.; Freund, Christian; Gidrol, Xavier; Mummery, Christine L.; Raymond, Karine
Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived hair-bearing skin organoids offer exciting new possibilities for modeling diseases like epidermolysis bullosa (EB). These inherited diseases affect 1 in 30,000 people worldwide and result from perturbed expression and/or structure of components of the epidermal-dermal junction (EDJ). To establish whether hiPSC-derived skin organoids might be able to capture salient features of EB, it is thus important to characterize their EDJ. Here, we report successful generation of hair-bearing skin organoids from two hiPSC lines that exhibited fully stratified interfollicular epidermis. Using immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, we showed that basal keratinocytes in organoids adhere to laminin-332 and type IV collagen-rich basement membrane via type I hemidesmosomes and integrin β1-based adhesion complexes. Importantly, we demonstrated that EDJs in organoids are almost devoid of type VII collagen, a fibril that mediates anchorage of the epidermis to dermis. This should be considered when using skin organoids for EB modeling.