53 years old female showed repeated ulceration of labial gingival mucosa at upper and lower anterior teeth, which was a partly desquamated and erythematous lesion. The lesion was slightly extended into vestibule and buccal mucosa in oral cavity, but the similar lesion was not found in other organs by medical inspection. The incisional biopsy including the border of the ulcerated mucosa and normal mucosa showed a severely inflamed mucosa, of which epithelium was gradually detached from the underlying conective tissue, so that it was diagnosed as a mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) pathologically. The epithelium was thinned, almost lost its rete pegs, and the basement membrane was completely distorted by the epithelial detachement. The inflammatory cell infiltration was mainly composed of small round cells and plasma cells. Immunohistochemistry was performed to know the expression of pathogenetic proteins using antisera of Igk, E-cadherin, laminin a5, elafin, and eIF5A. The basement membrane at the epithelial detachment was condensely positive for Igk, and the involved epithelium became atrophic but showed consistently positive reaction of matrix proteins and protein translation factor, i.e., E-cadherin, laminin a5, elafin, and eIF5A similar to the adjacent normal mucosa continuous to the MMP lesion. The Igk was also diffusely deposited on the basement membrane of nearby normal mucosa. Many plasma cells infiltrated around the lesion were strongly positive for Igk in their cytoplasms. Therefore, we suggest that the MMP be characterized by the deposition of Igk on the basement membrane of the detached epithelium in the absence of no other pathognomic changes of molecular events.

최근 유럽연합에서는 동물실험을 통하여 검증된 성분을 함유하고 있는 화장품에 대하여 판매를 금지할 것을 선언하였다. 그리하여 동물실험을 대체할 동물실험 대체모델의 개발이 필요해졌다. 인공피부는 화장품, 의약품 및 의료 기기의 안전 테스트에 있어서 아주 중요한 시스템이다. 본 연구에서는 기저막과 표피를 가지고 있는 최적의 인공피부를 만들기 위한 시도를 하였다. 이러한 목적으로 중간엽줄기세표(MSCs, mesenchymal stem cells)와 지방전구세포를 진피 세포인 섬유모세포와 혼합하여 진피대체물을 만들었다. 기저막과 표피의 형성은 면역조직화학 염색(immunohistochemical stains)을 통하여 확인하였다. 여러 가지 모델 중에서, 중간엽줄기세포를 혼합한 모델에서 표피의 두께가 제일 두꺼웠으며 또한 PCNA와 involucrin의 분포가 실제 사람피부와 비슷하였다. 결론적으로, 본 연구의 결과는 진피대체물에 중간엽줄기세포를 혼합한 인공피부가 동물실험 대체모델로 개발될 수 있다는 점을 제시한다.