Researchers transformed tissue cells into skin cells to heal wounds

For the first time, researchers discovered a new technique that can transform care for burn victims and other serious injuries. Basically, researchers turned tissue cells into skin cells to help heal serious wounds. According to the AFP report, research has been conducted for several decades and is very promising for various patients, including elderly patients with pressure ulcers, patients with severe burns and other lesions. recurring.

On September 6, the study was published in the journal Nature. The study involves a technology called "cell reprogramming" in which genes are placed in cells to transform them from one form to another.

The main author, Masakazu Kurita, reportedly said that it was the first description of the reprogramming of tissue cells into skin cells. And he is really excited about the results. The search was a painstaking and laborious process.

The first step was to identify the genes in the skin cells, but not in the tissue cells, which could be isolated and inserted into the tissue cells for processing. The researchers selected about 80 candidate genes from the skin cells and tried combinations.

In 2014, Masakazu Kurita achieved a breakthrough when he used a combination of 28 genes and successfully reprogrammed tissue cells into skin cells in a culture dish.

In 2015, he joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California to collaborate with a team of specialists from around the world.

However, he and his colleagues conducted about 2,000 trials with different gene combinations, looking for the most efficient way to transform cells. Eventually, they found a combination of four genes and began testing it on wounds in mice.

To promote healing, they sealed the wounds of the surrounding skin to reproduce the harsh conditions at the center of a large burn or similar injury, with no adjacent skin.

They were able to treat a lesion of one centimeter in diameter in about two weeks using new technology as well as existing drug treatments.

Their data suggests the feasibility of a totally new treatment that could be used for closing wounds of different causes.

Kurita reportedly stated that the most obvious application of this technology would be severe burns covering large areas of the body, which are usually treated with skin grafts.

But according to researchers, technology requires another decade of work to make it accessible to patients.

Posted: 7 September 2018 15h01