Monthly Archives: October 2013

Zebrafish study reveals mechanisms of wound healing

A crucial component of wound healing in many animals, including humans, is the migration of nearby skin cells toward the center of the wound. These cells fill the wound in and help prevent infection while new skin cells regenerate.How do these neighboring skin cells know which way to migrate? What directional cues are they receiving from the wound site?

Prevent winter from weathering your skin – ten tips for stopping that ‘winter itch’

All winter flakes are not made of snow. Cold weather, with its low relative humidity, wreaks havoc on our skin, making it dry and flaky. Skin dries out if it's deprived of moisture and this dryness often aggravates itchiness, resulting in a condition commonly referred to as "winter itch."During the winter the air is drier, and indoor heating further depletes your skin of moisture.

Human immune system shapes skin microbiome

Our skin plays host to millions of beneficial and potentially disease-causing microorganisms; however, whether our immune system influences these microbial communities to prevent disease is unknown. In a study published online in Genome Research, researchers have explored the microbes living on the skin of patients with primary immunodeficiencies with eczema-like skin conditions.

Researchers demonstrate technological breakthrough for skin regeneration

A team of researchers from the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated new multimodal optical microscopy technology that when coupled with advanced image co-registration algorithms, can account for soft-tissue deformations that may occur over the time-course of weeks and months.

High voltage, short pulsed electric fields hold promise to reveal the enigma of scars and to induce scarless tissue regeneration

High voltage, short pulsed electric fields, used for disinfection and solid tumor destruction, selectively damage cell membranes, while preserving overall tissue structure, a phenomenon that may be a key factor in scarless tissue regeneration.The enigma of scars has puzzled human mind for thousands of years. Any organ or tissue after serious injury forms a scar.

Protection from UV rays provided by circadian rhythms in skin stem cells

Human skin must cope with UV radiation from the sun and other harmful environmental factors that fluctuate in a circadian manner. A study published by Cell Press in the journal Cell Stem Cell has revealed that human skin stem cells deal with these cyclical threats by carrying out different functions depending on the time of day.