Gene expression analysis of papillary and reticular dermis microdissected from the same skin sample

The dermis is divided into two distinct layers. The upper, papillary dermis is characterized by thin and sparse fibers. The lower, reticular dermis is composed of solid tissue made up of thicker highly dense fibers. It has been reported that cultured fibroblasts isolated from the papillary and the reticular dermis exhibit different properties. In this study, we analyzed gene expression profiles of human papillary dermis and reticular dermis obtained using laser capture microdissection. Gene expression was compared between papillary dermis and reticular dermis microdissected from a normal skin biopsy sample.