Katja has quickly become a sebocyte specialist, taking some of our findings in a recent genome-wide association study on severe acne to the functional level. She has established sebocyte cultures as well as proliferation and lipid production assays and evaluates the role of acne cytokines on their biological function.
What influences sebocytes and in which way?
Sebocytes are the cells in oil glands of human skin and play an important role in wide spread dermatological diseases like acne vulgaris or even dry skin. Based on professor Navarini’s research I try to find out if TGFβ2 interacts with sebocytes and what the consequence for the dermis would be. To answer this question, we had to acquire our own sebocyte cell culture at the labour first. In order to compare the effects of different conditions on sebocytes, we defined proliferation and lipid production as the parameters which have to be measured. My task is to get familiar with the measurement methods and then to perform various experiments to generate new information about the reaction of the sebocytes in different environments. It is my aim to prove the suggested inhibitory impact of TGFβ2 on sebocytes and therefore to contribute to a better treatment for acne vulgaris and xerodermie.
