Facultad de Ciencias

Special Issue "Molecular and Cell Basis of Skin Diseases and Aging"

As the major physical barrier of the body, the skin plays an essential role in both stimuli sensing and defense against environmental insults and pathogens. To fulfill these important functions, the skin is a complex organ that harbors a plethora of cell types, as well as different skin appendices such as hair follicles and glands. Keratinocytes, fibroblasts and adipocytes are the major cellular components of the three skin layers: epidermis, dermis and hypodermis, respectively. In addition, several other cell types are present in the skin, for instance melanocytes involved in pigmentation, mechanoreceptors (like Merkel cells) and sensory neurons, or highly specialized dermal cells such as those forming the dermal papilla, a key component of the hair follicle with inductive capacities. Besides, a prominent immune cell compartment that comprises mast cells, macrophages and distinct subtypes of dendritic cells and T lymphocytes is at the crossroad of the complex dialog between skin microbiota and the host, being instrumental to determine the mutualistic or pathogenic character of the interactions. Overall, the relative abundance and structural location of all these components, along with a fine tuning of the intricate signaling network established among them, are determinant for physiological and pathological processes occurring in the skin. With aging, accumulated damage leads to architectural and functional alterations that affect the skin, increasing the susceptibility to develop inflammatory conditions and neoplastic lesions, hindering the repair capacity of the tissue and entailing a decline in cosmetic features that gain importance in the context of social relationships in humans, including pigmentary and hair-related defects. This Special issue is aimed at reviewing the state-of-the-art and presenting groundbreaking research findings that contribute to understand the molecular and cellular cutaneous changes associated with skin pathologies and aging. Increasing the knowledge in this field is key to prevent skin malfunction and to implement novel therapeutic strategies that promote optimal cosmetic and functional patient outcomes.

Enlace a la publicación: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/special_issues/MolecularAndCellBasisOfSkinDiseasesAndAging