Sy, Kristine Joy F.

BS Psychology 3A
The Integumentary System is an organ system consisting of the skin, hair, nails and exocrine
glands. It waterproofs the body and cushions and protects the deeper tissues from injury. The
skin is thick, resilient, and well hydrated in youth but loses its elasticity and thins as the person
ages. Most minor afflictions of the skin result from infections or allergic responses; more serious
area burns and skin cancer. Because they interfere with skin’s protective functions, burns
represent a major threat to the body.
Lab-Grown Skin Sprouts Hair and Sweats
Tissue may help create better skin transplants for patients with severe burns or skin diseases. A
genetic marker placed in the bio engineered skin cells tell scientists where the transplanted tissue
is located. If the treatment makes it into humans, the glowing protein wouldn’t be included. In a
lab in Japan, researchers have grown complex skin tissue, complete with hair follicles and sweat
glands according to a new study. The researchers implanted the tissue into living mice, and
found that the tissue formed connections with the animals’ nerves and muscle fibers. The
findings may one day help researchers create better skin transplants for human patients with
severe burns or skin diseases. Prior to the new study, researchers had already developed a more
basic type of skin substitute that had been used successfully in human patients, said Takashi
Tsuji, a team leader at RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan. But that skin had
only one or two layers of tissue, and lacked features such as hair follicles and the glands that
secrete sweat and oiled sebum, he said. In the research, the scientists generated skin that had not
only those features but also three layers of tissue that normal skin has. The work began with cells
collected from mouse gums. The researchers used chemicals to transform these cells into cells
that were similar to stem cells. Then, the researchers used these cells to generate three-layered,
fully functioning skin tissue in lab dishes. Then, they transplanted this tissue, complete with hair
follicles and glands that produce sebum, into mice. Researchers found that the tissue made
normal connections with surrounding nerves and muscle tissues in the mice, and those
connections allowed the tissue to function normally. The mice’s immune system did not reject
the transplanted tissues. However, the researchers noted, that, to generate human tissue for use in
people, they would have to start with human cells, and would still have to figure out how to grow
skin tissue from those cells, the researchers said. Besides, its potential application in human
patients, the newly developed skin tissue could be used as an alternative to testing cosmetics on
animals.
With these researches, this would help those people who suffered from burns and even those who
have severe skin problems that could generate and repair the cells that had been damaged.
Agata Blaszczak-Boxe, LiveScience
Scientificamerican.com
Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology (Tenth Edition) Elaine N. Marie