Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 5, 2026

Generation of Genetically Modified Organotypic Skin Cultures Using Devitalized Human Dermis
Published on: December 14, 2015
Aging is associated with highly defined epigenetic changes in the human epidermis
Background:
Altered DNA methylation patterns represent an attractive mechanism for understanding the phenotypic changes associated with human aging. Several studies have described global and complex age-related methylation changes, but their structural and functional significance has remained largely unclear.
Results:
We have used transcriptome sequencing to characterize age-related gene expression changes in the human epidermis. The results revealed a significant set of 75 differentially expressed genes with a strong functional relationship to skin homeostasis. We then used whole-genome bisulfite sequencing to identify age-related methylation changes at single-base resolution. Data analysis revealed no global aberrations, but rather highly localized methylation changes, particularly in promoter and enhancer regions that were associated with altered transcriptional activity.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that the core developmental program of human skin is stably maintained through the aging process and that aging is associated with a limited destabilization of the epigenome at gene regulatory elements.
Related Concept Videos
Renewal of Skin Epidermal Stem Cells
The Effect of Aging on Tissues
Cells of the Epidermis
The cells in all these layers except the stratum basale are called keratinocytes, a type of cell that manufactures and stores the protein keratin. The keratinocytes in the stratum corneum are dead and regularly slough away, being replaced by cells from...
Pigmentation
Melanin occurs in two primary forms: eumelanin that provides black and brown pigment and pheomelanin that provides red color. Dark-skinned individuals produce more melanin than those with pale...
Epigenetic Regulation
X-chromosome...
Epigenetic Regulation

