Study In UK: Newcastle University Studies How Human Skin Forms

The findings of the study hold potential for regenerative medicine such as improving the skin transplant process for burn victims and creating new hair follicles.

To understand how human skin forms and what happens during skin disease, Newcastle University’s researchers have created a single-cell atlas of prenatal human skin.

Newcastle University researchers have collaborated with Wellcome Sanger Institute and utilized various genomic techniques including single-cell sequencing to develop an atlas and get an understanding of human skin formation including hair follicles.

Dr Hudaa Gopee, co-first author from Newcastle University, said, “We’re excited to have made a skin organoid model that grows hair. In this process, we uncovered a new, important role of immune cells in promoting the growth of blood vessels in developing skin tissue, which could help improve other organoid models. These immune cells, called macrophages, also appear to play a key part in scarless skin repair in prenatal skin. Our findings could inform clinical advances to avoid scarring after surgery.”

Human Skin Study Holds Potential For Regenerative Medicine

The findings of this study hold potential for implementation in regenerative medicine such as advancing the skin transplant procedures for burn victims and creating new hair follicles.

As part of the study, the researchers have also developed a new organoid model for studying congenital skin disorders and have offered a molecular “recipe” for creating skin.

Dr Elena Winheim, co-first author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said, “With our prenatal human skin atlas, we’ve provided the first molecular ‘recipe’ for making human skin and uncovered how human hair follicles are formed before birth. These insights have amazing clinical potential and could be used in regenerative medicine, when offering skin and hair transplants, such as for burn victims or those with scarring alopecia.”

Under this project, the researchers are working to find how the skin is constructed and the influence of genetics on it. They are also trying to understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of cells. This could also shed light on congenital skin conditions such as scaly skin and blistering disorders.

“The atlas of prenatal human skin developed in the study will help pinpoint the specific cells where genes linked to congenital hair and skin disorders, such as blistering and scaly skin conditions, are active or expressed. The researchers discovered that these disorder-associated genes are expressed in prenatal skin, indicating that their origins trace back to development in utero,” says the university statement.

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