Skin Immunity, Integrity and Disease Core (SIND)

The overall goal of the epiCURE Skin Immunity, Integrity and Disease Core (SIND) is to facilitate high-quality skin-focused translational research. Ongoing research increasingly recognizes the intricate coordination of skin function by a multitude of neuro-immuno-endocrine regulatory systems, which are subject to both internal and external stresses (e.g., solar radiation and microbial pathogens). Therefore, in vivo and ex vivo models that aim to mimic disease relevant aspects of human skin are essential for understanding normal and pathological skin physiology as well as identification and preclinical proof of concept studies of novel therapies for skin diseases.

The scope of services provided by the SIND is outlined in the following Service Clusters:

Service Cluster A. Skin Inflammation Models

  • A1. Isolation of T cell populations (normal, diseased human and mouse skin tissue)
  • A2. Immunophenotyping, and profiling cytokines and homing markers of T cell populations
  • A3. T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire analysis
  • A4. Profiling pro-inflammatory mediators

 

Service Cluster B. UV Radiation Models

  • B1. UV mouse models
  • B2. Quantitation of UV-induced pre-mutagenic DNA lesions
  • B3. Profiling UV molecular signatures via exome-sequencing
  • B4. 2-D and 3-D imaging of UV damage response

 

Service Cluster C. Alopecia Models

  • C1. C3H/HeJ mouse model of Alopecia Areata
  • C2. Grafting of human skin / scalp onto scid or NSG mice for disease modeling
  • C3. Hair induction assays – patch assay
  • C4. Human hair follicle organ cultures

 

Service Cluster D. Advanced Screening and 3-D Culture Systems

  • D1. Generation of 3D skin equivalents
  • D2. Generation of 3D skin equivalents from iPSCs
  • D3. High-throughput screens (HTS) in skin cells
  • D4. High-throughput live cell imaging
Columbia Affiliations
Department of Dermatology
The College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Medical Center