Signaling pathways like the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) play an important role in cell communication, growth, and division. Dysregulation of this pathway is often responsible for human cancers. A team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen has managed to stop the invasive growth in a skin cancer model using artificial skin. The researchers combined genetic engineering of the human organotypic 3D-skin model with proteomics to dissect the essential components of the TGF-β signaling pathway responsible for inducing invasive tissue growth.
The use of artificial skin overcame the obstacle of the applicability of the results from mice models to human tissues. The artificial skin models were successfully used to study the effect of dissecting essential components of signaling pathways by focusing on the skin as an individual organ. The mechanism of molecules can then be…
