Deciphering the molecular effects of non-ablative Er:YAG laser treatment in an in vitro model of the non-keratinized mucous membrane

This study aimed to investigate the molecular effects of non-ablative Er:YAG laser treatment using an in vitro model of the non-keratinized mucous membrane and to compare its molecular effects with other ablative and non-ablative laser systems. In dermatology, the use of non-ablative and ablative fractional lasers has become the gold standard treatment for a number of indications. Each of the individual laser types is advantageous for different types of indications due to its respective properties, but new technologies open up new fields of application for individual laser systems. Performing a comprehensive gene expression profiling we compared the gene regulatory effects of non-ablative Er:YAG laser with other non-ablative and ablative laser systems. In vitro 3D models have proven to be a reliable and reproducible tool to study the molecular biological effects of different laser settings. Eight samples were analyzed: Er:YAG (non-ablative) treated vs. Er:YAG (non-ablative) control; CO2 (ablative) treated vs. CO2 (ablative) control; Er:YAG (ablative) treated vs. Er:YAG (ablative) control; Er:Glass (non-ablative) treated vs. Er:Glass (non-ablative) control.