Dresden 2026 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 14: Poster Session II

BP 14.34: Poster

Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 18:00–21:00, P2

Nanomechanical ultrastructure of native skin — •Mario Zerson¹, Martin Dehnert¹, Paul Zech¹, Melanie Knaak², Korinna Jöhrens², Martin Kaatz³, and Robert Magerle¹ — ¹Fakultät für Naturwissenschaften, TU Chemnitz — ²Institut für Pathologie, Klinikum Chemnitz gGmbH — ³Hautklinik, DRK Krankenhaus Chemnitz-Rabenstein

Native skin has a complex, layered structure across the epidermis and dermis. In this study, we explore the use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to examine the nanomechanical morphology of skin under controlled relative humidity conditions that maintain water content close to physiological levels. We examined cryosections of native, unfixed rabbit skin with tapping mode AFM and AFM-based nanoindentation measurements. This enables imaging the nanomechanical ultrastructure of the stratum basale in the epidermis and of collagen fibrils in the dermis with 20 nm spatial resolution. The results are compared with optical micrographs of adjacent stained sections of the same specimen and with scanning electron micrographs reported in the literature.

Keywords: Atomic force microscopy; native skin; nanomechanical imaging; Histology