Ichthyosis : a severe skin disease that affects dogs and humans.

Ichthyosis : a severe skin disease that affects dogs and humans.Both dogs and humans can suffer from ichthyosis, a disorder in which the skin becomes very dry, scaly, and prone to secondary infections. Medical researchers have uncovered new details about one form of the disease and took a step toward developing a topical therapy. A particularly serious skin barrier condition is known as ichthyosis in which thick layers of scales can build up. It arises when the lipid-synthesis process in the skin goes awry. Besides causing discomfort and a scaly appearance, the condition can make the skin prone to secondary infections. No effective treatments currently exist for ichthyosis, but a new study led by pathologist Elizabeth Mauldin of Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine takes a step toward a topical therapy.Using dogs that were born with one form of the disease, she and her colleagues uncovered its cellular and metabolic basis and used that information to create a compound to address the lipid deficits seen in the disease. Using a lotion applied to the skin, they were able to reinstate the corneocyte lipid envelope (CLE) that is typically lacking in these patients. Ichthyosis : a severe skin disease that affects dogs and humans.

3D -GROWN SKIN SWEATS AND SPROUTS HAIR.

The research was led by the RIKEN Centre for Developmental Biology in collaboration with Tokyo University of Science, been published in Science Advance. A Japanese lab has grown a 3D layer of skin that can sweat and sprout hairs. The skin has sweat glands, follicles, sebaceous glands and three layers of skin cells. The researchers behind the study said the skin was able to "connect to other organ systems such as nerves and muscle fibres" and could eventually be used to treat burns patients or those requiring "new skin". The team used cells from the gums of mice to create stem cells, which were then then developed into an "embryoid body". The researchers described this as "a three-dimensional clump of cells that partially resembles the developing embryo in an actual body". The cells were then implanted into bald mice, where they connected with nerve and muscle tissues and "functioned normally", according to the team. Up until now, artificial skin development has been hampered by the fact that the skin lacked the important organs, such as hair follicles and exocrine glands, which allow the skin to play its important role in regulation. This new technique has successfully grown skin that replicates the function of normal tissue, bringing us closer to the dream of being able to recreate actual organs in the lab for transplantation, and also believe that tissue grown through this method could be used as an alternative to animal testing of chemicals. Source;wired.co.uk

Similar proteins protect the skin of humans and turtles.

A new study shows the similarities between the skin of turtles and man. The turtle shell is a highly successful concept of evolutionary development and its defensive function clearly distinguishes turtles and tortoises from other reptiles. In the study, the working group led by Leopold Eckhart investigated the genes responsible for the skin layers of the shell of the European terrapin and a North American species of turtle, in order to compare them with the genes of human skin. The study findings suggest that a hard shell was formed as the result of mutations in a group of genes known as the Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC). Comparisons of genome data from various reptiles suggest that the EDC mutations responsible occurred when turtles split off from other reptiles around 250 million years ago. This new study shows that evolutionarily related genes have a protective function both in humans and also in tortoises and turtles. It is hoped that comparing the skin of humans and animals will provide a better understanding of the interaction of proteins. In future, the knowledge derived from this may lead to medical applications, for example to improved treatment for psoriasis, in which EDC gene mutations are found. read more here;http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151125104911.htm