As part of the Human Cell Atlas project, one of the most ambitious research programs in biology, scientists have discovered how the human body produces skin cells from stem cells. In a laboratory setting, researchers successfully produced a small amount of human skin.
The findings of this research are believed to help delay skin aging. Additionally, it is suggested that this discovery could be used for producing cells for skin grafts and preventing scarring. The Human Cell Atlas project aims to understand how every part of the human body is formed, cell by cell. The international project is based at the Wellcome Sanger Institute at the University of Cambridge.
One of the project leaders, Professor Muzlifah Haniffa, stated that their work could lead to new ways to treat diseases more effectively and also to keep people healthier and even younger for longer. She explained, "If we can manipulate the skin and prevent aging, we will have fewer wrinkles. If we can understand the changes from the initial development of cells to aging in adulthood, we could explore questions like 'How can we rejuvenate organs, and how can we make the heart or skin younger?'"
PRACTICAL APPLICATION STILL FAR OFF
Researchers are still far from being able to apply these findings soon, but they have made progress in understanding how skin cells develop in a fetus. When an egg is first fertilized, all the cells are identical. However, after three weeks, certain genes in specialized cells called "stem cells" activate and produce instructions. This begins the process of gathering and specializing to form the body's limbs.
The researchers identified which genes are activated at specific times and places to form the skin, the body's largest organ. When these genes are stained under a microscope with specific chemicals, they become distinguishable. Genes that turn orange form the skin's surface, while yellow ones determine skin color. Additionally, there are other genes responsible for growing hair, enabling sweating, and forming other structures that protect us from the external environment.
SMALL PATCHES OF SKIN PRODUCED SO FAR
The research, published in Nature, revealed the sequence of commands that stem cells use to form human skin. Being able to read these instructions opens up exciting possibilities. Scientists already know that a fetus's skin can heal without scarring. The newly discovered instruction sequence provides details on how this happens. The next area of research could involve replicating this process in adult skin for use in surgical procedures.
Another significant development is the discovery that immune cells play a critical role in the formation of blood vessels in the skin. Following this discovery, scientists were able to mimic these instructions in the laboratory. By using chemicals that activate and deactivate genes at the right time and place, they produced artificial skin from stem cells.
So far, they have successfully produced small patches of skin with tiny hairs emerging from them.
