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. 2022 Jan 25;9:796080. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2021.796080

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Copyright © 2022 Park.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Structure and cellular components of mouse and human epidermis. Highly organized epithelial cells composed of stratified epithelium in the epidermis. The bottommost basal layer cells are attached to the basement membrane. Epithelial stem cells are in the basal layer and differentiate upward. Both mouse and human epidermis have four different layers (basal, spinous, granular, and cornified layers). The human epidermis is much thicker than the mouse epidermis and has an undulated rete ridge structure. Both undifferentiated and differentiated epithelial cells form cellular junctions to build the solid stratified structure. The stratified epithelium acts as physical barriers from outer environment. There are tissue-resident immune cells within the epidermis. Langerhans cells (LCs), dendritic epidermal T cells (DETCs), and CD8⁺ tissue-resident memory T cells (T_RMs) exist in the mouse epidermis, but humans do not have the DETCs. These immune cells continuously surveil possible infections and perform immunological barrier functions.