Human skin cells silently 'scream' to communicate with each other say scientists

Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery about how the human skin responds to injury.

Our bodies are made up of many parts that work together through communication. In some systems, like the nervous system, this communication occurs through bioelectrical signals (nerve impulses) that travel through the body, triggering appropriate responses.

An example of neuron communication that you've definitely experienced is when you remove your hand from a hot surface. Sensory neurons in the skin send electrical signals to the brain, which processes the information and sends a signal back through motor neurons to your muscles to pull your hand away. Ouch!

Neuron communication is for a rapid response. As it turns out, the epithelial cells in your skin and organs can “scream” when damaged, however this communication is very different, new research has just discovered.

Instead of swift signals such as neurons, they send a much slower, long-lasting “scream” to transmit the threat. It might be slower, but it’s still significant and it challenges the old notion that epithelial cells were ‘mute’ and could not send electrical signals. Examples may include cell damage or stress in tissue, repair of tissue and responses to inflammation.

The findings are a huge surprise for experts, because these cells were previously considered ‘mute’. Steve Granick of the University of Massachusetts Amherst said: “Epithelial cells do things that no one has ever thought to look for.

Scientists have discovered how epithelial cells in the skin communicate Photo by Luis Quintero on Unsplash

“When injured, they ‘scream’ to their neighbors, slowly, persistently and over surprising distances. It’s like a nerve’s impulse, but 1,000 times slower.”

Granick and his colleague, biomedical engineer Sun-Min Yu of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, created a system to investigate how cells communicate in the epithelium. The system they designed was made up of a chip connected to around 60 electrodes.

The chip was covered with a single layer of human keratinocytes grown in a lab. These cells are the primary epithelial cells that form the epidermis, or outer skin layer. Using a laser, the researchers "stung" the skin layer and used an electrode array to monitor the electrical changes that occurred afterward. The researchers tracked how the cells co-ordinated their response, with Yu describing it as “a slow-motion, excited conversation”.

Epithelial signals last a lot longer than neuronal signals, with some of these “conversations” lasting for up to five hours.

More work will be needed to understand how this process works, however research like this could lead to the development of biomedical devices such as sensors that are worn or electronic bandages that help speed up wound healing.

The research has been published in the journalPNAS.

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