Definition of "dermis" [der•mis]

• The sensitive connective tissue layer of the skin located below the epidermis, containing nerve endings, sweat and sebaceous glands, and blood and lymph vessels. Also called corium, cutis, derma1. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "This layer, called the dermis, is so rich in a certain type of immune cell that the new shot uses a lower dose of the same vaccine that's in regular flu shots."
• "When transcription factors such as AP-1 are activated, they produce and release collagen-digesting proteins matrix metalloproteinase, resulting in microscarring in the deep portion of the skin called the dermis."
• "Abnormal architecture of the collagen and elastin fibers in the dermis is the crux of the problem."