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1. Effect of burn wound treatment with fish skin on mouse skin proteome

   https://doi.org/10.6069/332v-vt13  

   Vapniarsky, Natalia; Kültz, Dietmar (January 2024, Panorama Public)

   This study explored the feasibility of using fish skin bandages as a therapeutic option for third-degree skin burns. Following the California wildfires, clinical observations of animals with third-degree skin burns demonstrated increased comfort levels and reduced pain when treated with tilapia fish skin. Proteomic analysis of the fish skin revealed the presence of antimicrobial peptides. In combination with histological and other data, these results suggest that fish skin can serve as an innovative and cost-effective therapeutic alternative for burn victims to facilitate vascularization and reduce bacterial infection. 

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2. Inhibition of biofilm formation induced by functional graphenic materials impregnated in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) skin

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.151768  

   Antonio_Gomes_da_Silva, Fernando; Eckhart, Karoline E; Matiuzzi_da_Costa, Mateus; Sydlik, Stefanie A; Pequeno_de_Oliveira, Helinando (February 2022, Applied Surface Science)

   Frederiksberg, Dr_Henrik_Rudolph (Ed.)

   Wound dressings based on natural materials, such as fish skin, represent an important strategy for the treatment of burns. Despite their utility, contamination of these natural materials with bacteria (planktonic and biofilm forms) introduces significant risks to patients under treatment. This disadvantage can be overcome by modifying the material’s surface to prevent bacterial deposition through chemical or physical interactions. In this work, functional graphenic materials (FGM) with tunable surface charges were incorporated into tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) fish skin as a part of a strategy to control the biofilm adhesion on surfaces. The antibiofilm activity was evaluated against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae due to the biofilm-forming properties of these bacterial strains. FGM-modified tilapia skin samples possess a strong capacity to reduce biofilm formation on the tilapia fish skin with a higher antibiofilm activity against Gram-positive bacteria, compared to Gram-negative bacteria. Negatively charged FGMs were more effective than positively charged FGMs in preventing biofilm formation on the impregnated tilapia skin xenografts: negatively charged Claisen graphene achieved an 88.8% reduction in biofilm formation on the tilapia skin. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of FGM-impregnated tilapia skins as a treatment for burn wounds due to their ability to modulate bacterial adhesion. 

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3. Vascularization strategies for skin tissue engineering

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D0BM00266F  

   Amirsadeghi, Armin; Jafari, Arman; Eggermont, Loek J.; Hashemi, Seyedeh-Sara; Bencherif, Sidi A.; Khorram, Mohammad (July 2020, Biomaterials Science)

   null (Ed.)

   A number of challenges in skin grafting for wound healing have drawn researchers to focus on skin tissue engineering as an alternative solution. The core idea of tissue engineering is to use scaffolds, cells, and/or bioactive molecules to help the skin to properly recover from injuries. Over the past decades, the field has significantly evolved, developing various strategies to accelerate and improve skin regeneration. However, there are still several concerns that should be addressed. Among these limitations, vascularization is known as a critical challenge that needs thorough consideration. Delayed wound healing of large defects results in an insufficient vascular network and ultimately ischemia. Recent advances in the field of tissue engineering paved the way to improve vascularization of skin substitutes. Broadly, these solutions can be classified into two categories as (1) use of growth factors, reactive oxygen species-inducing nanoparticles, and stem cells to promote angiogenesis, and (2) in vitro or in vivo prevascularization of skin grafts. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art approaches, their limitations, and highlights the latest advances in therapeutic vascularization strategies for skin tissue engineering. 

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4. Circadian control of interferon-sensitive gene expression in murine skin

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1915773117  

   Greenberg, Elyse Noelani; Marshall, Michaela Ellen; Jin, Suoqin; Venkatesh, Sanan; Dragan, Morgan; Tsoi, Lam C.; Gudjonsson, Johann E.; Nie, Qing; Takahashi, Joseph S.; Andersen, Bogi (March 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   The circadian clock coordinates a variety of immune responses with signals from the external environment to promote survival. We investigated the potential reciprocal relationship between the circadian clock and skin inflammation. We treated mice topically with the Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist imiquimod (IMQ) to activate IFN-sensitive gene (ISG) pathways and induce psoriasiform inflammation. IMQ transiently altered core clock gene expression, an effect mirrored in human patient psoriatic lesions. In mouse skin 1 d after IMQ treatment, ISGs, including the key ISG transcription factor IFN regulatory factor 7 ( Irf7), were more highly induced after treatment during the day than the night. Nuclear localization of phosphorylated-IRF7 was most prominently time-of-day dependent in epidermal leukocytes, suggesting that these cell types play an important role in the diurnal ISG response to IMQ. Mice lacking Bmal1 systemically had exacerbated and arrhythmic ISG /Irf7 expression after IMQ. Furthermore, daytime-restricted feeding, which affects the phase of the skin circadian clock, reverses the diurnal rhythm of IMQ-induced ISG expression in the skin. These results suggest a role for the circadian clock, driven by BMAL1, as a negative regulator of the ISG response, and highlight the finding that feeding time can modulate the skin immune response. Since the IFN response is essential for the antiviral and antitumor effects of TLR activation, these findings are consistent with the time-of-day–dependent variability in the ability to fight microbial pathogens and tumor initiation and offer support for the use of chronotherapy for their treatment. 

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5. Diet-induced obesity promotes infection by impairment of the innate antimicrobial defense function of dermal adipocyte progenitors

   https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.abb5280  

   Zhang, Ling-juan; Guerrero-Juarez, Christian F.; Chen, Stella X.; Zhang, Xiaowei; Yin, Meimei; Li, Fengwu; Wu, Shuai; Chen, Joyce; Li, Min; Liu, Yingzi; et al (January 2021, Science Translational Medicine)

   null (Ed.)

   Infections are a major complication of obesity, but the mechanisms responsible for impaired defense against microbes are not well understood. Here, we found that adipocyte progenitors were lost from the dermis during diet-induced obesity (DIO) in humans and mice. The loss of adipogenic fibroblasts from mice resulted in less antimicrobial peptide production and greatly increased susceptibility to Staphylococcus aureus infection. The decrease in adipocyte progenitors in DIO mice was explained by expression of transforming growth factor–β (TGFβ) by mature adipocytes that then inhibited adipocyte progenitors and the production of cathelicidin in vitro. Administration of a TGFβ receptor inhibitor or a peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor–γ agonist reversed this inhibition in both cultured adipocyte progenitors and in mice and subsequently restored the capacity of obese mice to defend against S. aureus skin infection. Together, these results explain how obesity promotes dysfunction of the antimicrobial function of reactive dermal adipogenesis and identifies potential therapeutic targets to manage skin infection associated with obesity. 

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