The make-up of a human skin cell has been mapped which could lead to scarless healing of wounds and skin transplants for burns victims.
Researchers from Newcastle University, in the United Kingdom, have created a single cell atlas of prenatal human skin to understand how skin, including hair follicles, formed and what went wrong in disease.
The team, working out of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, said their insights could be used to create new hair follicles in regenerative medicine and skin transplants for burn victims.
In a report, they said they also created a “mini organ” of skin in a dish with the ability to grow hair.
“Using the organoid, (we) showed how immune cells play an important role in scarless skin repair, which could lead to clinical applications to prevent scarring after surgery, or scarless healing after wounding,” they said in the report.
They said understanding how skin developed, where cells were in space and time, and the role of genetics would help reveal how specific mutations caused congenital skin disorders, such as blistering disorders and scaly skin.
Read the full study: A prenatal skin atlas reveals immune regulation of human skin morphogenesis
