The work focuses on a type of wound known as cutaneous ulcers, which are long-lasting lesions commonly found on sufferers of severe burns, bedsores and diabetes. These complex wounds run deep, through several layers of skin, which often means that they need to be treated surgically by taking grafts of existing skin and layering them over the top.
With expertise in plastic surgery, Salk scientists Izpisua Belmonte and Masakazu Kurita started to explore advanced regenerative techniques that could avoid the need for these procedures. Key to their mission were cells called basal keratinocytes, which resemble stem cells in that they serve as a precursor to various types of skin cells … read more