Abstract
In mammals, the declination of hair follicles suggests an asymmetrically aligned tension in the skin during development. We hypothesized that skin, as an elastic body, would exhibit retraction in vitro proportional to the tension in vivo. We tested this hypothesis in the newborn rat during the time of hair follicle morphogenesis and examined the effect of a known epidermal morphogen, EGF. Circular 12mm sections of dorsal skin from 12 control and 12 EGF-treated (500 ng/g BW) newborn rats were allowed to assume figures of equilibrium on prewetted polystyrene plates prior to culture in serum free Waymouth's media for 24h. Initial axial dimensions for the circular sections were:
Sagittal retraction was not inhibited by neuromuscular blocking agents (pancuronium, curare) or by sodium azide. All sections became circular after 24h in culture. Ellipse formation was not present in skin sections from 7-day-old pups.
Conclusions: 1) Newborn rat skin exhibits an endogenous tension in the direction predicted by the cephalo-caudal angulation of the developing hair follicles; 2) EGF treatment decreases skin tension as measured by the retraction assay described; 3) the tension-generating element in skin is not the hypodermal skeletal muscle; 4) this phenomenon is lost during adaptation to in vitro life and is limited to the neonatal period.
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Hoath, S., Pickens, W. & Sneller, D. EXAMINATION OF THE “SURFACE TENSION” OF NEWBORN RAT SKIN: METHOD AND EFFECTS OF EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR (EGF). Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 215 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00293
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00293