epidermis
Sign in to saveThe epidermis is the outermost of the three major layers that constitute the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water released from the body into the atmosphere through transepidermal water loss.
AI overview
The epidermis is the thin, outermost layer of your skin that sits above two deeper layers called the dermis and hypodermis. It protects you by blocking harmful germs from entering your body and controlling how much water your skin loses to the air.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Microanatomy.Name
- Epidermis
- Microanatomy.Latin
- epidermis
- Microanatomy.Image
- Epidermis-delimited.JPG
- Microanatomy.Caption
- Microscopic image of the epidermis, which constitutes the outer layer of skin, shown here by the white bar
- Microanatomy.Image2
- Epidermal layers.png
- Microanatomy.Caption2
- Microscopic image showing the layers of the epidermis. The stratum corneum appears more compact in this image than above because of different sample preparation.
- Microanatomy.System
- Integumentary system
- Microanatomy.PartOf
- Skin
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Structure
- Cellular components
- Cell boundaries
- Layers
- Cellular kinetics
- Cell division
- Calcium concentration
- Development
- Function
- Barrier
- Skin hydration
- Skin color
- Touch
- Clinical significance
- Hyperplasia
- Additional images
- See also
- References
The epidermis is the outermost of the three major layers that constitute the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water released from the body into the atmosphere through transepidermal water loss.
The epidermis is composed of multiple layers of flattened cells that overlie a base layer (stratum basale) composed of perpendicular columnar cells. The layers of cells develop from stem cells in the basal layer. The thickness of the epidermis varies from 31.2 μm for the penis to 596.6 μm for the sole of the foot with most being roughly 90 μm. Thickness does not vary between the sexes but becomes thinner with age. The human epidermis is an example of epithelium, particularly a stratified squamous epithelium.