A method for the in-vitro investigation of sweating processes, in which a three-dimensional sweat gland equivalent is stimulated adrenergically, and the reaction of the three-dimensional sweat gland equivalent is determined by measuring the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) content.

A method for observing a sebaceous gland, the method being useful for such applications as developing a cosmetic material or other external preparation, and including (I) a step for culturing, in a suspended state in a medium, a sebaceous gland structure in which the dermis and all or a portion of the subcutaneous tissue is removed from a skin tissue, and (II) a step for observing the cultured sebaceous gland structure obtained in step (I).

The present invention is intended to increase the number of human salivary gland cell passages, maintain their undifferential condition and high proliferative potential during cultivation. The culture method of human salivary gland epithelial progenitor cells comprising: (a) obtaining human salivary gland epithelial progenitor cells from recipient organism; (b) cell transfer into PCT Epidermal Keratinocyte Medium and cultivation in culture flasks ensuring cell adhesion at 37 C. with addition of 5% CO.sub.2 and medium change every 2-4 days until monolayer is reached; (c) cell passage at 1:3-1:5 dilution ratio, including cell removal from the culture flask surface using EDTA trypsin solution and transfer into the new culture flasks; (d) further cell cultivation as defined in claim (b) with in-process medium change every 2-4 days and passaging until monolayer is reached, as defined in claim (c) at a maximum dilution ratio of 1:2-1:3, where the first medium change after each passage shall be provided within 8-24 hours.

The present application provides a method for promoting the sternness and/or transdifferentiation of acinar cells, comprising the following steps: providing an acinar cell, transfecting a plasmid into the acinar cell, and culturing the transfected acinar cell, wherein the plasmid contains a genetic material for overexpression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V).

A cell culture system including a silk fibroid scaffold, culture media, and salivary gland cells. The salivary gland cells grown in the tissue culture system have physiological and morphological features like those of in vivo salivary gland cells. The cell culture system can be used to produce a salivary tissue-specific extracellular matrix capable of inducing differentiation of salivary gland cell precursors into salivary gland cells.

The present disclosure concerns an in-vitro method for the identification and analysis of proteins with a stem cell function, in which initially, at least one three-dimensional sweat gland equivalent with from about 500 to about 500000 sweat gland cells as well as a diameter of from about 100 to about 6000 m is provided and subsequently, proteins with a stem cell function in this equivalent are identified and analyzed. Preferably, in a further step c) of the method, the influence of test substances on the proteins previously identified in step b) is investigated. Because the three-dimensional sweat gland equivalents used in step a) comprise differently differentiated cells and emulate the in-vivo situation well, the measured data obtained with the in-vitro method as contemplated herein can readily be applied to the in-vivo situation.

The object of the present invention is to provide an artificial skin having hair follicles, sebaceous glands, and hair pores. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing artificial skin having hair follicles, sebaceous glands, and hair pores, characterized in that it comprises each of the following steps: (A): a step of preparing an artificial skin having dermal and epidermal layers or an artificial skin having only a dermal layer; and (B): a step of transplanting isolated hair follicles to the artificial skin prepared in step (A);

wherein said isolated hair follicle comprises a sebaceous gland, and said isolated hair follicle is transplanted to said artificial skin so that the surface of said dermal Layer of said artificial skin is in alignment with the position of the hair pore portion of said isolated hair follicle.

The present disclosure relates to an in-vitro method for identifying and analyzing ion channels and/or water channels and/or receptors of signal transduction, in which a three-dimensional sweat gland equivalent having from about 500 to about 500,000 sweat gland cells and a diameter of from about 100 to about 6,000 m is firstly provided and then any ion channels and/or water channels and/or receptors of signal transduction present in this equivalent are infected and analysed. In a further method step c) the influence of test substances on the proteins identified previously in step b) is examined. Since the three-dimensional sweat gland equivalents used in step a) comprise differently differentiated cells and portray the in-vivo situation well, the measurement data obtained with the in-vitro method as contemplated herein can be transferred well to the in-vivo situation.

The invention relates to immuno-modulatory progenitor (IMP) cells and their use in therapy.

The present disclosure concerns an in-vitro full skin model which comprises a dermal equivalent and epidermal equivalent as well as from about 1 to about 100 three-dimensional sweat gland equivalents with respectively from about 500 to about 500000 sweat gland cells as well as a diameter of respectively from about 100 to about 6000 m on a supporting layer. Furthermore, the present disclosure concerns the production of the full skin model as well as the use of this model as an in-vitro model, in screening methods as well as for in-vitro evaluation of the influence of cosmetic substances on the inhibition of sweat secretion as well as body odor.