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Sensing the Environment: Regulation of Local and Global Homeostasis by the Skin's Neuroendocrine System

Part of the book series: Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology ((ADVSANAT,volume 212))

Abstract

The strategic location of the skin as the barrier between the environment and internal milieu determines its critical function in the preservation of body homeostasis, and ultimately organism survival (Slominski 2005; Slominski and Wortsman 2000; Slominski et al. 2000c; Zmijewski and Slominski 2011). It also exposes skin to numerous pathological agents, processes, and events. Thus, the capability to locally recognize, discriminate, and integrate various signals within a highly heterogeneous environment, and to immediately launch appropriate responses, is a vital property of skin (Slominski and Wortsman 2000). These skin functions are integrated into the skin immune, pigmentary, epidermal, and adnexal systems, and are in continuous communication with the systemic immune, neural, and endocrine systems (Arck et al. 2006; Slominski 2009c; Slominski and Wortsman 2000; Slominski et al. 2004c, 2007a; Stenn and Paus 2001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Andrzej T. Slominski

  2. Department of Histology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland

    Michal A. Zmijewski

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Cezary Skobowiat & Blazej Zbytek

  4. University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Radomir M. Slominski

  5. Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland

    Radomir M. Slominski

  6. Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    Jeffery D. Steketee

Authors
  1. Andrzej T. Slominski
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  2. Michal A. Zmijewski
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  3. Cezary Skobowiat
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  4. Blazej Zbytek
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  5. Radomir M. Slominski
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  6. Jeffery D. Steketee
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrzej T. Slominski .

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© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Slominski, A.T., Zmijewski, M.A., Skobowiat, C., Zbytek, B., Slominski, R.M., Steketee, J.D. (2012). Introduction. In: Sensing the Environment: Regulation of Local and Global Homeostasis by the Skin's Neuroendocrine System. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, vol 212. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19683-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19683-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-19682-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-19683-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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