SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Scientists have found that stem cells taken from under the skin of mice are able to reproduce themselves indefinitely in the lab, offering promise for regenerating skin and hair for people.
According to research published Friday in the journal Cell, the stem cells that were reproduced also formed stretches of skin, tufts of hair and sebaceous glands -- which secrete oils that lubricate the skin and hair -- when they were grafted onto the backs of hairless mice.
"This is the first work that indicates a single skin stem cell can generate both epidermis [skin] and hair, even after propagation in the lab," said Elaine Fuchs, a professor and head of the Laboratory of Mammalian Cell Biology and Development at the Rockefeller University in New York City. "The potential of these stem cells is very exciting."
Stem cells -- isolated either from embryos or from adult tissue -- are immature "blanks" with the ability to differentiate into a variety of specialized cells that make up tissues and organs.
Scientists around the world are working to use these cells to grow mature specialized cells that could replace or regenerate damaged or diseased tissue of the skin, brain, heart and other organs.
Beneath the skin of mammals, each hair follicle contains a small reservoir of stem cells, called the "bulge," that can be mobilized to regenerate the follicle with each hair-growth cycle and to generate new skin around a wound.