<h2>Eliminate Scarring</h2>
<p>Scars are a normal part of life — for now, anyway. In the future, that might not be the case, as researchers have developed a method to eliminate scarring by prompting wounds to heal as normal skin rather than as scar tissue.</p>
<p>Scar tissue looks different than normal skin because it doesn&#8217;t feature any fat cells or <a href="https://futurism.com/hairy-lab-grown-skin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hair follicles</a>. Smaller cuts are filled in with skin that contains <a href="https://www.nature.com/subjects/adipocytes">fat cells called adipocytes</a>, which allows it to blend in with the surrounding area. However, this isn&#8217;t the case for <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-found-a-way-to-radically-reduce-scarring-thanks-to-sea-creatures/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scar tissue</a>, which is largely comprised of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1899462/">myofibroblasts</a>.</p>
<p>This research indicates that we might be able to convert myofibroblasts into adipocytes, converting scar tissue to <a href="https://futurism.com/new-electronic-skin-manipulates-virtual-objects/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">look like normal skin</a>. Previously, this conversion was thought to be possible only in fish and amphibians.</p>
<figure id="attachment_121504" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img class="size-large wp-image-121504" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2018/02/scar-hair-1200x981.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="981" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Image Credit: Maksim V. Plikus et. al. / Science</figcaption></figure>
<p>The study, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2017/01/04/science.aai8792">published in <em>Science</em></a>, builds upon <a href="https://futurism.com/the-end-of-scars-scientists-discovered-how-to-regenerate-human-skin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">previous research</a> that established a link between the way that fat cells and hair follicles developed in the regenerated skin. Both would form separately, but not independently, with the hair follicles always appearing first.</p>
<p>This prompted the team to try inducing the growth of hair follicles in scar tissue that was being formed in samples of skin taken from mice and humans. Hair follicles were seen to release a signaling protein known as <a href="https://futurism.com/soon-broken-bones-could-be-fixed-using-gene-therapy-and-microbubbles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bone Morphogenetic Protein</a> during their development, which converted myofibroblasts to adipocytes.</p>
<h2>Improved Results</h2>
<p>These results are an improvement over currently available cosmetic surgery, which can make scars less visible but cannot actually eliminate scarring.</p>
<p>&#8220;Previous approaches to scar-reducing therapies focused on minimizing the size of the scar, but not eliminating it all together,&#8221; Maksim Plikus of the University of California, Irvine, a co-author of the study, told Futurism. &#8220;We observe regeneration of completely new fat cells from myofibroblasts, the principal cell type that causes scarring. This means that instead of just being reduced, scar tissue can be eliminated, replaced by normal tissues via the regeneration mechanism.&#8221;</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SfTAXunE_hk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>However, there are some limitations to the procedure, at least in its current form. In mouse wounds, there&#8217;s a window of opportunity for the scars to be addressed, which seems to fall between day 15 after the injury (when <a href="https://futurism.com/we-just-figured-out-how-to-activate-stem-cells-to-treat-baldness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new hair follicles</a> start to regenerate) and day 28 (when fat regeneration is completed).</p>
<p>&#8220;The time window for inducing regeneration in wounds is fairly long, which is a great news for potential future regeneration-inducing therapy,&#8221; Plikus noted, acknowledging that further testing will be required to assess whether the window can be extended beyond 28 days after the injury was sustained. It&#8217;s not yet clear whether it will be possible to modify the therapy for use on older scars.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there are important differences between the skin of humans and mice that warrant further testing. Plikus wrote that the regeneration inducing <a href="https://futurism.com/stem-cells-touch-neurons/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signaling molecules</a> observed in mice still have to be validated in human skin wounds, for instance.</p>
<p>The therapy has been demonstrated in human skin samples, but there&#8217;s a way to go before it can be performed on a living person&#8217;s wound. Still, it&#8217;s an exciting development that shows just how much we have to learn about our own skin. &#8220;Our research shows that adult skin in mammals has much broader regenerative potential than previously assumed,&#8221; Plikus said.</p>


The technique relies on a process previously thought to be biologically impossible in humans.

A new discovery about human skin could help us eliminate scarring

Health & Medicine

Scars can be an unsightly blemish, but a new process for inducing the growth of hair follicles could eliminate scarring entirely.

A New Discovery About Human Skin Could Help Us Eliminate Scarring

The process works by inducing the growth of hair follicles in scar tissue.

<h2>Wound Repair</h2>
<p>From combat to everyday injuries, wound care is a vital part of healthcare. Patients in nursing homes, those recovering from amputations and diabetes complications, and so many more battle ongoing wounds. In fact, chronic wounds often take enormous amounts of time to heal, some never fully healing at all. However, in almost all of these cases, patients are <a href="https://futurism.com/we-may-finally-have-a-way-to-stop-scars-from-ever-forming/">left with scars</a>, visible reminders of their trauma and pain. However, thanks to one new development, scar care might be getting a strange, but incredible, makeover.</p>
<p>Scars are formed as a result of &#8220;broken&#8221; collagen. When collagen fibers regrow it is in a different pattern that creates the visible scars that we&#8217;re familiar with.</p>
<p>But scientists may have found a way to circumvent this process. Goop secreted by mussels, yes, those <a href="http://molluskconservation.org/MUSSELS/What_Mussel.html">bivalve mollusks</a>, has been shown to be a crucial ingredient in a glue that could revolutionize wound care, according to a new study <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0142961217302788">published in <em>Biomaterials</em></a>. Allison Cowin from the University of South Australia, who wasn’t involved in the study, said in an <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2130806-mussel-gloop-can-be-used-to-make-wounds-knit-without-any-scars/">interview with New Scientist</a>, “If this can be replicated in humans, it might be the next big thing for scar therapy.”</p>
<p><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/05/GettyImages-699093367-300x225.jpg" alt="Scientists Found a Way to Radically Reduce Scarring, Thanks to Sea Creatures" /></p>
<h2>Mollusk Care</h2>
<p>The impact of this discovery could be huge because scars can interfere with personal image, self-esteem, and long-term happiness. Previously, doctors used the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24384090">skin protein decorin</a> to reduce scars, but it is difficult to synthesize and produce.</p>
<p>Other researchers have developed alternative means of <a href="https://futurism.com/the-end-of-scars-scientists-discovered-how-to-regenerate-human-skin/">dealing with scars</a>, like developing new compounds to restore skin to its natural structure, but Hyung Joon Cha and his colleagues at <a href="http://www.postech.ac.kr/eng/">Pohang University of Science and Technology</a> in South Korea decided, instead, to create a simpler version of decorin. Their &#8220;glue&#8221; uses the mussel gloop, a piece of the decorin protein, and a molecule that binds collagen.</p>
<p>The team tested their glue with rats and, according to <em><a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2130806-mussel-gloop-can-be-used-to-make-wounds-knit-without-any-scars/" target="_blank">New Scientist</a></em>, &#8220;By day 11, 99 percent of the wound was closed in the treated rats compared with 78 percent in the control group. By day 28, treated rats had fully recovered and had virtually no visible scarring. In comparison, control rats had thick, purple scars.&#8221;</p>
<p>This glue could completely change how we heal and move on from injuries. So many people have surgeries, stitches, or cuts of some kind. If this glue is as effective as it promises to be, large visible scars could be a thing of the past.</p>


Scar

The mussel gloop is added to a piece of the skin protein called "decorin," and a molecule that binds collagen to help skin to heal.

/Scars

Health & Medicine

A New Discovery About Human Skin Could Help Us Eliminate Scarring

Health & Medicine

Scientists Found a Way to Radically Reduce Scarring, Thanks to Sea Creatures

Load More