Utilization of ex vivo tissue model to study skin regeneration following microneedle stimuli

Microneedling is a popular skin resurfacing and rejuvenation procedure. In order to develop better adjunct products for consumers, there is a scientific need to establish greater understanding of the mechanism in which microneedling stimulates regeneration within skin. The purpose of this study is to develop a physiologically relevant ex vivo tissue model which closely mimics the actual microneedling procedure to elucidate its mechanism of action. In this study, human ex vivo skin was subjected to microneedling treatment and cultured for 6 days. Histological analysis demonstrated that the ex vivo skin was able to heal from microneedling injury throughout the culture period. Microneedling treatment stimulated proliferation and barrier renewal of the skin. The procedure also increased the levels of inflammatory cytokines and angiogenic growth factors in a dynamic and time dependent fashion. The tissue demonstrated hallmark signs of epidermal regeneration through morphological and molecular changes after the treatment. This is one of the first works to date that utilizes microneedled ex vivo skin to demonstrate its regenerative behavior. Our model recapitulates the main features of the microneedling treatment and enables the evaluation of future cosmetic active ingredients used in conjunction with microneedling.