ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In recent years, skin tissue engineering technology has been well-developed and plays increasingly important roles in dermatology studies. The development of a functional epidermal basement membrane, also called dermal-epidermal junction, is one of the most sought after aspects of skin tissue engineering,and one of the hardest to recreate in vitro.At the dermal-epidermal junction level,dermal fibroblasts and epidermal keratinocytes interact to form an interlinked basement membrane of extracellular matrix, which forms as a concerted action of both keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Successful formation of this basement membrane is essential for the stability of human skin. OBJECTIVE: To summarize the molecular organization and impact of epidermal basement membrane on skin homeostasis, and to review the applications of reconstructed human skin model in epidermal basement membrane studies, providing solutions for related dermato-pathological and physiological issues. METHODS: A computer-based online search was performed in PubMed database and Google Scholar with the defined publication date ranging from 2000 until September 2016. The keywords were "skin, basement membrane, dermal epidermal junction, skin equivalent, reconstructed skin, skin homeostasis". Finally 57 pertinent articles were screened out of the preliminary retrival list for further analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Epidermal basement membrane is shown to play gate-keeping roles, which controls cellular behavior and diffusion of bioactive molecules via outside-in signaling.It is the foundation of epidermal integrity and skin homeostasis.The abnormal expression of basement membrane molecules will lead to skin physiological changes and even skin diseases.In vitro reconstructed skin model, highly resembling the normal human skin in structure and molecular organization, is becoming a very powerful tool to study the physiology of epidermal basement membrane, and also very promising for skin anti-aging research and the treatment of blistering diseases caused by epidermal basement membrane disorders.