Human skin map provides 'recipe' for building skin and may help prevent scarring

Researchers have created the first single-cell atlas of prenatal human skin to understand how skin forms and what's at stake in disease.

Researchers at Newcastle University's Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators used single-cell sequencing and other genomics techniques to create the atlas and find out how. human skinContaining hair follicles, are formed. These insights could be used in regenerative medicine to create new hair follicles or in skin grafts for burn patients.

In the research, published October 16th naturethe team also created a “mini-organ” of skin in a dish with the ability to grow hair. use of organoidthey showed how immune cells play an important role in the repair of scarred skin, which could lead to clinical applications for preventing scarring after surgery and scarring healing after wounds. I showed that there is.

As part of the Human Cell Atlas, which is mapping every cell type in the human body to change our understanding of health and disease, researchers are studying the molecular 'recipe' for building skin and congenital skin diseases. We offer new organoid models for

The skin is the largest organ of the human body, measuring an average of 2 square meters in size. It provides a protective barrier, regulates body temperature, and can self-renew. The skin develops in the sterile environment of the womb, and all hair follicles are formed before birth. follicle After birth, the cycle changes, but new follicles are not produced. Prenatal skin has the unique ability to heal without scarring.

It has been very difficult to study how human skin develops because there are important differences in animal models. As part of the Human Cell Atlas, a team of researchers is focused on studying how human skin is built. Understanding how skin develops, where cells are located in space and time, and the role of genetics can help explain how certain mutations can lead to congenital skin conditions such as blistering disease and scaly skin. It helps clarify what causes the disease.

In this new study, researchers from Newcastle University's Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators have created the first single-cell and spatial atlas of human prenatal skin.

The research team used a sample of prenatal skin tissue and broke it down to observe individual cells in suspension and appropriate cells within the tissue. Scientists used state-of-the-art single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics to analyze individual cells and cellular changes that regulate skin and hair follicle development in space and time. They described a procedure that outlines how human hair follicles form and identified differences from mouse hair follicles.

use adult stem cellsresearchers also created “mini-organs” of skin in a dish, known as organoids, with the ability to grow hair. They compared the molecular characteristics of skin organoids with prenatal skin and found that the skin organoid model more closely resembled prenatal skin than adult skin.

The team discovered that blood vessels They did not form into skin organoids like prenatal skin. By adding immune cells known as macrophages to the organoids, the researchers found that the macrophages promoted the formation of blood vessels, and the researchers performed 3D imaging to assess blood vessel formation within the tissue.

These immune cells are known to protect the skin from infection. However, this is the first time that macrophages have been shown to play an important role in the formation of human skin during early development by supporting blood vessel growth. This provides an option to improve vascularization of other tissue organoids.

The research team also analyzed the differences in cell types between prenatal and adult skin. They show how macrophages play an important role in scar-free skin repair in prenatal skin, which could lead to clinical applications to avoid scarring after surgery or wounds. There is.

As a result of this study, the research team provides a molecular “recipe” for how human skin is built and how hair follicles form. These insights could be used to create new hair follicles for regenerative medicine, such as skin grafting for burn patients or patients with cicatricial alopecia.

The Prenatal Human Skin Atlas is also used to identify in which cells genes known to cause congenital hair and skin disorders such as blistering disorders and scaly skin are activated or expressed. Ru. Researchers discovered that the genes involved in these diseases are expressed in the skin before birth, meaning they develop in the womb. The skin organoids created in this study provide a new accurate model to study these diseases.

“The Prenatal Human Skin Atlas provides the first molecular 'recipe' for making human skin and allows us to develop human hair before birth,” said co-lead author Elena Winheim, Ph.D., from the Wellcome Sanger Institute. “We have elucidated how the envelope is formed.” These insights have surprising clinical potential and could be used in regenerative medicine, such as in providing skin and hair transplants for burn patients and patients with scarring alopecia. ”

Co-lead author Dr Hudar Gopy from the University of Newcastle said: “We are excited to have created a skin organoid model that grows hair. In this process, we have demonstrated that immune cells play a role in promoting skin growth. We have discovered a new important role for blood vessels in developing skin tissue, which could be useful for improving other organoid models. immune cellsMacrophages, called macrophages, also appear to play an important role in scarless skin repair in prenatal skin. Our findings may help in clinical advances to avoid scarring after surgery. ”

Professor Muzrifah Hanifa, co-lead author and Interim Head of Cytogenetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: “Our prenatal human skin atlas and organoid model will provide the research community with an opportunity to study congenital skin diseases. “We will create a human cell atlas, understand the biological stages of how humans are built, and provide freely available tools to explore the potential of regenerative medicine.'' We are making exciting progress toward investigating what's wrong with the disease. ”