Cutaneous embryology: Physiological basis and clinical implications

作者：Francisco Nogueira Martins, Joana Calvão, Johannes Wasmayr, Claudia Furtmüller, Evelyn Bataiosu-Zimmer, Emmanuella Guenova, Margarida Gonçalo, Leonor Ramos · 发表于：Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1111/jdv.70603 · 研究领域：Skin and Cellular Biology Research、Hair Growth and Disorders、melanin and skin pigmentation

Skin development is a tightly regulated, multistep process that transforms the embryonic surface into a complex organ composed of a stratified epidermis, dermal-epidermal junction, dermis, hypodermis and cutaneous appendages. This review provides a compartment-based, clinically oriented overview of human skin embryology, linking key developmental pathways to normal structure and inherited skin disorders. The epidermis arises from surface ectoderm through the coordinated activity of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and Wnt signalling, with p63 maintaining the basal progenitor compartment required for stratification. Subsequent keratinocyte differentiation, cornification and barrier maturation also depend on Notch, lipid-processing and desquamation pathways. Disruption of these sequential events helps explain epidermal mosaic disorders and congenital ichthyoses. In parallel, melanocytes derive from neural crest precursors and colonize the developing epidermis and hair follicles through microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF)-centred melanocytic programmes; abnormal migration, survival or pigment production underlies several congenital pigmentary disorders. The dermal-epidermal junction forms as hemidesmosomes and collagen VII-containing anchoring fibrils progressively secure adhesion between epidermis and dermis; defects in these structures underlie inherited forms of epidermolysis bullosa. The dermis develops from BMP-patterned mesenchyme into papillary and retic...