New studies may have unveiled stem cell origins of skin cancer

A team of researchers in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have disclosed a new stem cell origin of carcinoma.

The team was led by Associate Professor Alea Mills and they found out that an increase in activity on the oncogene called Ras combined with a protein called ANp63a can stimulate the skin stem cells population.  The increase in the population of the cell leads to the production of Keratin 15 that promotes the development of carcinoma.

The population of different stem cells in the skin can help the skin. The stem cells have the ability to renew themselves which allows the cells to be replaced by new ones in a months time.  The normal cycle of division and death are deemed to spawn carcinomas.  These cycles can be considered as one of the genetic problems of deadly skin cancers which are usually acquired by people from the United States.

In a test conducted in mice, the researches came up with the conclusion that when ANp63a was switched on, the cells tool a stem-like feature which is intriguing because it never happened during senescence. The skin of the live mice that produces different skin stem cell has different fluorescent color.