From: ScienceDaily: Skin Care News
Researchers report that the human body has an entirely unique and
separate sensory system aside from the nerves that give most of us
the ability to touch and feel. Surprisingly, this sensory network
is located throughout our blood vessels and sweat glands, and is
for most people, largely imperceptible. This discovery may shed
light on the causes of unexplained chronic pain conditions such as
fibromyalgia.
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Secret to healing chronic wounds might lie in tiny pieces of silent RNA
Scientists have determined that chronic wounds might have trouble
healing because of the actions of a tiny piece of a molecular
structure in cells known as RNA. The researchers discovered in a
new animal study that this RNA segment in wounds with limited blood
flow lowers the production of a protein that is needed to encourage
skin cells to grow and close over the sore.
Dermatology: Watching immune cell movement to and from the skin
Immune cells known as Tregs have an important role in preventing
other immune cells from attacking the cells of our body and causing
autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. A team of
researchers in Japan has now used mice engineered to express the
photoconvertible fluorescence protein Kaede, which changes from
green to red when exposed to violet light, to track Treg movement
under physiologic conditions and during immune responses in the
skin.
Geneticists Hunt For Scleroderma Triggers
At its most benign, the autoimmune disease scleroderma can discolor
parts of the skin of its sufferers. At its most pernicious, it can
thicken and harden their skin, their blood vessels, and their
internal organs before, in many cases, killing them. Geneticists
now report a closer connection between a gene profile for the
profibrotic pathway TGF-beta and a tendency in some scleroderma
sufferers to develop lung problems.
Two Proteins Enable Skin Cells To Regenerate
Never mind facial masks and exfoliating scrubs, skin takes care of
itself. Stem cells located within the skin actively generate
differentiating cells that can ultimately form either the body
surface or the hairs that emanate from it. In addition, these stem
cells are able to replenish themselves, continually rejuvenating
skin and hair. Now, researchers have identified two proteins that
enable these skin stem cells to undertake this continuous process
of self-renewal.
New way to study how enzymes repair DNA damage
Researchers have found a new way to study how enzymes move as they
repair DNA sun damage -- and that discovery could one day lead to
new therapies for healing sunburned skin. Ultraviolet (UV) light
damages skin by causing chemical bonds to form in the wrong places
along the DNA molecules in our cells.
