Lab-created skin for “massive burns”?!

Lab-created skin for wound healing and “massive burn” treatment. This is the “surprising” result announced by a team of researchers from Boston, Newcastle and Cambridge.

They were able to map human skin cells using an organoid, a small replica of skin created in the laboratory. Their results, published in the journal Nature, open the way to the creation of artificial skin starting from the patient’s own cells. This achievement offers new perspectives for skin grafts and wound treatment.

Mapping all the cells of the body

This study is part of the Human Cell Atlas project, an international program that aims to map every cell in the human body. By analyzing around 100 million cells from different parts of the body, this project provides a better understanding of how cells develop and interact to create functional substances.

In this study, researchers analyzed embryonic skin samples to identify genes involved in the formation of skin cells, such as epidermal cells, dermis, blood vessels and even immune cells.

Stephane Chavanas, a researcher at Inserm, did not participate in this study but analyzed its results, they are presented by the journal Sante. He says that the results of the study are “amazing” and allow us to understand how skin cells differentiate and specialize. For example, some embryonic skin cells become epidermal cells, some support cells, and some immune cells. Valuable information is provided for regenerative medicine and clinical research.

To grow skin in the laboratory

The researchers also developed a skin organoid starting from pluripotent stem cells, capable of transforming into different types of skin cells. By treating these cells with chemicals, they stimulated the creation of artificial skin with hair follicles (a complex skin structure). Which is an important breakthrough because it proves that cultured skin can grow hair, a sign that it is viable.

Organoids serve as a model of skin laboratory and allow researchers to test hypotheses and gain a better understanding of cell development. In this study, the researchers noted that macrophages, immune cells that are present in the early stages of skin formation, play a vital role in vascularization and scarring. By adding macrophages to the organoid, the researchers observed the beginning of the process of blood vessel formation, a key step in fully functional skin regeneration.

Towards skin grafts for severe burns

This achievement could allow the creation of bio-personalized dressings for patients, especially for the great burning. By growing skin from the patient’s own cells, it would be possible to produce a compatible tissue that could be grafted. Compared to conventional skin grafts, which are generally limited to the epidermis, artificial skin could include more complex structures such as hair follicles and blood capillaries (the smallest blood vessels), the enabling natural healing and reducing the risk of rejection.

The researchers also hope that it will be possible to use this technology for hair transplants in the future. Cultivating cells capable of forming hair follicles opens the way to treating baldness.

Researchers tell me that by creating models of human skin, it is possible to test new drugs, better understand some hereditary skin diseases, and monitor the effects of different treatments without use of animal experiments.

However, this technology still needs to be perfected: although the organoid reproduces many features of the skin, some structures are missing, such as a complete network of blood vessels.