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Adult skin can regenerate just like a newborn, according to a study

October 26, 2020

A new study leads to discovering a factor that allows adult skin to repair itself just like a newborn
The factor that controls skin and hair follicle formation during the first week of life was identified on mice; this one deactivates after the skin is formed, but researchers found a way to activate it during adult life and form not only new skin but wound healing without scarring

The Washington State University was in charge of research were the assistant professor Ryan Driskell said that the ability of some animals to renew full limbs and skin regeneration was the inspiration for this team to initiate this study, “We can still look to other organisms for inspiration, but we can also learn about regeneration by looking at ourselves.” It is known that embryonic skin can regenerate without leaving scars and can produce hair follicles, while adult skin heals by scarring and doesn’t grow hair follicles; this is why this discovery is relevant when it comes to wound healing and aging of the skin. On September 29th, the journal eLife published this study where the technique used was single RNA sequencing; during this time, they studied the genes and cells on adults and developing skin and were able to establish some differences; the main one was the presence of a transcription factor-proteins that bind to DNA and is in charge of activation or deactivation of genes. This factor, known as Lef1, is related to the cells in the papillary dermis, the skin layer in charge of giving support and elasticity to the skin. On normal conditions, the factor Lef1 is active during the first week of life and allows full skin formation, but then is deactivated during adult life. During the investigation, the factor Lef1 was activated on adult mice skin, and wound regeneration was activated, showing significant improvements like the growth of hair follicles and was also able to produce goosebumps and the absence of scarring. These properties are usually absent on adult skin and can only be observed during in-utero life. “We were able to take the innate ability of young, neonatal skin to regenerate and transfer that ability to the old skin,” said Driskell This is only the first step in this investigation; this is why Driskell’s team created a website if you want to find the RNA sequence data and use it for further research; you can find it in skinregeneration.org. After the conclusion of this first part of the study, the team got a grant from the National Institutes of Health that will allow them to continue investigating this factor and how that can influence wound healing.

References: https://news.wsu.edu/2020/09/29/discovery-enables-adult-skin-regenerate-like-newborns

Adult skin can regenerate just like a newborn, according to a study

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