Characterization of the epidermal-dermal junction in hiPSC-derived skin organoids

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived hair-bearing skin organoids offer exciting new possibilities for modeling diseases like epidermolysis bullosa (EB). These inherited diseases affect 1 in 30,000 people worldwide and result from perturbed expression and/or structure of components of the epidermal-dermal junction (EDJ). To establish whether hiPSC-derived skin organoids might be able to capture salient features of EB, it is thus important to characterize their EDJ. Here, we report successful generation of hair-bearing skin organoids from two hiPSC lines that exhibited fully stratified interfollicular epidermis. Using immunofluorescence and electron microscopy, we showed that basal keratinocytes in organoids adhere to laminin-332 and type IV collagen-rich basement membrane via type I hemidesmosomes and integrin 81-based adhesion complexes. Importantly, we demonstrated that EDJs in organoids are almost devoid of type VII collagen, a fibril that mediates anchorage of the epidermis to dermis. This should be considered when using skin organoids for EB modeling.