A three-dimensional skin culture model for mouse keratinocytes: application to transgenic mouse keratinocytes

The study of mouse epidermal biology has been hampered by the lack of a good in vitro model for the culture of mouse keratinocytes which allowed the reconstruction of a fully differentiated epidermis. We adapted the Pruniéras' model, also called the Dead de-Epidermized Dermis model (DED), to mouse keratinocytes and showed that a neo-epidermis can be reconstructed exhibiting a complete differentiation program. We also used this model to culture transgenic mouse keratinocytes. We observed that transgene expression occurred in the correct location and that the neo-epidermis mimed previous in vivo observations obtained with integrin skin-targeted transgenic mice. Therefore, this model will be a powerful tool to further investigate normal mouse and transgenic keratinocyte biology.