Gene expression profile of dermis and epidermis from young and old age group. Gene expression profile of dermis and epidermis from young and old age group

To uncover the genes related to nervous system increased in the process of intrinsic aging, microarray analysis was performed with the dermis and the epidermis of buttock skin obtained from the young and old volunteers. We found that 23 genes related to the nervous system were upregulated more than two-fold in the dermis of the aged. Conclusively, our results suggest that hyperinnervation together with elevated factors related to SP (substance P) signaling may result in the erroneous sensitization (e.g., pruritus) in the aged skin. Overall design: Skin samples from five young and five old individuals were separated into dermis and epidermis. Thus, the sample preparation gave rise to four different groups of tissue-age combinations: Dermis-Old, Epidermis-Old, Dermis-Young, and Dermis-Young. Each group consisted of five samples, totaling twenty microarray altogether.