Comparison of Tape-Stripping Platforms as Non-Invasive Solutions for Skin Biomarker Discovery

Collection of epidermal tissue with adhesive tapes (tape stripping) is a versatile non-invasive procedure for the evaluation of skin health, including assessments of the barrier function, microbial content, and disease biomarkers. Tape stripping harvests skin molecular components and could be used to investigate virtually any skin condition, in both adult and pediatric populations ( Hughes et al., 2021 Hughes A.J. Tawfik S.S. Baruah K.P. O'Toole E.A. O'Shaughnessy R.F.L. Tape strips in dermatology research. Br J Dermatol. 2021; 185: 26-35 Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar ; Merola et al., 2021 Merola J.F. Wang W. Wager C.G. Hamann S. Zhang X. Thai A. et al. RNA tape sampling in cutaneous lupus erythematosus discriminates affected from unaffected and healthy volunteer skin. Lupus Sci Med. 2021 Mar 1; 8e000428 Crossref Scopus (6) Google Scholar ; Pavel et al., 2021 Pavel A.B. Renert-Yuval Y. Wu J. Del Duca E. Diaz A. Lefferdink R. et al. Tape strips from early-onset pediatric atopic dermatitis highlight disease abnormalities in nonlesional skin. Allergy. 2021 Jan; 76: 314-325 Crossref PubMed Scopus (65) Google Scholar ); however, the number of tapes required for sample collection vary widely, and the lack of standardized sampling, processing and normalization protocols complicate data comparison and interpretation ( Breternitz et al., 2007 Breternitz M. Flach M. Prässler J. Elsner P. Fluhr J.W. Acute barrier disruption by adhesive tapes is influenced by pressure, time and anatomical location: integrity and cohesion assessed by sequential tape stripping. A randomized, controlled study. Br J Dermatol. 2007 Feb; 156: 231-240 Crossref PubMed Scopus (129) Google Scholar ; Clausen et al., 2016 Clausen M.L. Slotved H.C. Krogfelt K.A. Agner T. Tape Stripping Technique for Stratum Corneum Protein Analysis. Sci Rep. 2016 Jan 28; 619918 Crossref Scopus (62) Google Scholar ). Moreover, tapes differ in the formulations of the adhesives, relevant for multiple aspects of their performance, including the extent of skin irritation, yields of biomolecules, and sample stability ( Hughes et al., 2021 Hughes A.J. Tawfik S.S. Baruah K.P. O'Toole E.A. O'Shaughnessy R.F.L. Tape strips in dermatology research. Br J Dermatol. 2021; 185: 26-35 Crossref PubMed Scopus (35) Google Scholar ). There is a need to define the optimal sampling tape, collection, extraction, and processing steps, to consistently support the identification of translatable biomarkers. We have compared the performances of two commonly used non-invasive skin sampling platforms, DermTech Smart Sticker® (SS, DermTech, La Jolla, CA) and the D-squame® skin sampling disc (DSQ, Clinical and Derm, Dallas, TX), by collecting skin tissue from 34 healthy volunteers and implementing a consistent workflow for sample processing and data analysis.