Scientists Study Skin Cells

U.S. scientists say they’ve discovered specialized skin cells use a kind of mapping system to identify where they belong in the body.

Stanford University researchers said the cellular maps direct embryonic patterning and wound healing by producing vital location cues and may help in growing tissue for transplant or understanding metastatic cancer.

There is a logic to the body that we didn’t understand before, said John Rinn, a postdoctoral scholar and first author of the research. Our skin is actively maintaining itself throughout our life, and these ‘address codes’ help the cells know how to respond appropriately.

Until now it’s been a mystery as to how adult skin — consisting of the same basic components all over the body — knows to grow hair in some areas, while becoming sweat glands, calluses and fingerprint whorls in others.

Ideally, we can use this finding to develop a positional map that will allow us to correlate location with function in a way that will make it easier to regenerate certain parts of the body, said Rinn.

The research appears in the current issue of the Public Library of Science-Genetics.