Fig. 1.

Construction of skin models. a, b Keloids are dissected into: peripheral region (P), the central superficial (Cs) and central deep regions (Cd); the normal skin directly adjacent to the keloid periphery (sN: surrounding normal skin). Keratinocytes and fibroblasts are isolated from each region (circles indicate where biopsies were taken for cell isolation) and combined to form a peripheral keloid (P-Kscar) model, central superficial keloid (Cs-Kscar) model, central deep keloid (Cd-Kscar) model, surrounding normal skin (sNskin) model (c). Skin models are constructed by first seeding fibroblasts into Matriderm® (d). After 3 weeks, keratinocytes are added and the skin models are then cultured air-exposed for an additional 2 weeks