Professors receive grant to study skin cells

UF researchers recently received a grant of nearly half a million dollars in the hopes of finding a way to regenerate tissue to possibly help injuries.

The nearly $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow UF professors Malcolm Maden and Chelsey Simmons to study skin regeneration and how it could potentially apply to humans for the next three years, said Simmons, the principal investigator.

The study is based around the African spiny mouse, the first wild mammal to show the ability to regenerate tissue after an injury without scarring. Simmons’ team is taking cells from the mouse and studying how they respond to tension release, or the cells’ reaction when cut.

Maden’s team will analyze the cells and conduct their own tests after Simmons’ team experiments with them.

Although research is still in a preliminary stage, Simmons and her team are hoping the regeneration helps with burns, heart attacks, spinal injuries and more. Because the spiny mouse is a mammal, Simmons wants to see if knowledge of its cells could be used to help humans.

“If we can figure out regeneration, we can grow anything back,” Simmons said.

Although the researchers have been uncovering new information, the process is lengthy, making human application distant, Nicole Serrano, the lab manager, said.

“It’s a super long process,”the 22-year-old UF graduate said. “It’s not going to move anywhere really fast anytime soon. It’s going to take a long time.”