Effects of non-ablative fractional erbium glass laser treatment on gene regulation in human three-dimensional skin models

The 2016 study explored the impact of non-ablative fractional erbium glass laser treatment on gene expression in human three-dimensional skin models. The treatment resulted in decreased mRNA levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) 3 and 9 shortly after treatment, with MMP3 also showing reduced protein levels. However, MMP9 protein levels increased five days post-treatment. The treatment also downregulated inflammatory genes and upregulated epidermal differentiation markers, which was confirmed at the protein level. These findings suggest that erbium glass laser treatment may contribute to dermal remodeling, anti-inflammatory effects, and enhanced epidermal differentiation. The study provides insight into the molecular mechanisms of laser-induced skin effects, although the number of skin models used was not specified.