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Science for Sapiens A year in research (2024)

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team of researchers from the Insti-
tute for Research, Development and
Innovation in Sanitary Biotechnolo-
gy of Elche (IDiBE) of the University
Miguel Hernández (UMH) are deve-
loping a model of innervated human
skin with 3D printing to understand
mechanisms that cause various pa-
thologies affecting the sensory nervous system and who-
se symptoms are manifested in the skin. IDiBE researcher
Asia Fernández points out that, until now, skin obtained
by bioprinting has been used for the treatment of large
burns, but has not been included so far in the sensory
system. The aim of this project is to connect the two sys-
tems – skin and nervous system – to help understand the
molecular mechanisms responsible for sensory patholo-
gies.

Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology at UMH Asia
Fernández explains that in this project they are trying to A lab technician works with the new 3D bioprinter. Author: Ivan Vaz
“connect the nervous-sensory system, that is, connect
and innervate this skin in order to give sensory capacity
to it. This is a model that could be very useful both to
understand the molecular mechanisms of dermatologi-
cal pathologies, and also to study the toxicity of certain
compounds, drugs, even cosmetics, to see if they do not
cause irritation or alter the skin.”
From the point of view of skin pathologies such as pso-
riasis or pruritus, this research will help to discover new
drugs that may be useful. The IDiBE team of the UMH has
proven that these phenomena occur with the interven-
tion of the sensitisation of the skin of the peripheral ner-
vous system. Currently, the removal of skin cells throu-
gh human samples is being carried out. These samples
are collected from surgeries that allow to get a sufficient This model could be
amount of material to obtain printed skin. The challen-
ge is to innervate this skin with human sensory neurons very useful both to
obtained through the transdifferentiation of fibroblasts, understand the
a cell type present in the skin.
molecular mechanisms
Obtaining skin by 3D printing allows to reduce the use of dermatological
of animals and, in addition, to create a system similar to
the human system. According to Asia Fernández, “the pathologies, and also to
results obtained with this study system would be more study the toxicity of
easily transferable to the clinic, and it would reduce the
high rate of failure we find when we try to extrapolate the certain compounds
results obtained in animal models to humans.”

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