Simulation of maintenance of the epidermis

Abstract

We propose a 3D lattice Monte Carlo model of self-renewal of the epidermis, including division of cells located in the innermost layer, death of cells in the upper layers, and cell diffusion between the layers. The results of simulations indicate that the dependence of the epidermis thickness, l, on the model parameters is extremely weak. For example, the two orders of magnitude increase in the cell life expectancy results in increase of l only by a factor of two.