Negative Regulation of Skin Pigmentation in Three-Dimensional Reconstructs by Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Cells.

The regulation of site-specific pigmentation in reconstructs used for skin grafting is incompletely understood. Using an engineered skin equivalent model, Klar et al. incorporated adipose-derived mesenchymal cells into skin substitutes and found that adipose-derived mesenchymal cells secreted high levels of transforming growth factor-β1, which down-regulates melanogenic enzymes such as tyrosinase to decrease melanin synthesis and prevent normal pigmentation of resulting skin grafts.