Enzymatic degradation of human skin dermis revealed by fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy.

Dermis is the major source of the fluorescence and light scattering of skin. Tumor-induced degradation of the dermis is expected to change the fluorescence and light scattering properties of skin. To investigate how these fluorescence and light scattering properties are changed, human skin dermis was degraded with enzymes to mimic tumor invasion. The enzymatic erosion process was investigated with fluorescence and reflectance spectroscopy. Dermis degradation by the enzymes resulted in a decrease in fluorescence emission and light scattering in the dermis. Fluorescence anisotropy, however, could not detect the change in the dermis induced by the enzyme treatments.