On June 6th, the group of Associate Professor Hitoshi Yokoyama of the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hirosaki University, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University and the Biology Program, Faculty of Science, Niigata University, found cells in the subcutaneous tissue under the skin in amphibians. He announced that he had moved to the wound and found that it contributed to the regeneration of the dermatitis.This made it possible to identify and analyze cells that enable skin regeneration.
The skin that covers the entire human body is composed of the superficial epidermis and the deep dermis.In mammals, when a wound reaches the dermis, the dermis cannot be regenerated, and instead, a scar is formed to close the wound.Scars remain as scars and cause various troubles.In contrast, the amphibian Xenopus laevis can almost completely regenerate the skin structure including the dermis without creating scars even if the dermis of the skin is damaged.However, it has been a mystery as to what kind of cells contribute to skin regeneration.
This time, the research group has devised a new experimental method for labeling cells in the subcutaneous tissue in Xenopus laevis after metamorphosis.The method used here is to exchange and transplant the skin between an individual whose whole body is labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and an individual who is not labeled to create a state in which only the subcutaneous tissue is labeled with GFP.We overcame the problem of rejection by using a pure line of Xenopus established in Japan, and succeeded in producing a Xenopus laevis labeled with GFP only in the subcutaneous tissue on the back of the torso.
As a result of investigating the contribution of cells to skin regeneration using this individual, cells derived from subcutaneous tissue labeled with GFP migrated and accumulated under the wound, and then contributed to the dermis of the regenerated skin. Became clear.
By clarifying the origin of cells that contribute to skin regeneration, it is expected that the properties of cells that enable skin regeneration will be clarified in the future.Furthermore, comparison with mammals will lead to the elucidation of the cause of the inability of mammals to regenerate skin.And these findings are expected to be useful in the future for the development of a therapeutic method for completely regenerating deeply injured human skin without leaving scars.
Paper information: [Developmental Dynamics] Cells from subcutaneous tissues contribute to scarless skin regeneration in Xenopus laevis froglets
