How stem cells make skin

EMBL scientists come a step closer to understanding skin, breast and other **cancers**. **Stem cells** have a unique ability: when they divide, they can either give rise to more stem cells, or to a variety of **specialised** cell types. In both mice and humans, a layer of cells at the base of the skin contains stem cells that can develop into the specialised cells in the layers above. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, in collaboration with colleagues at the Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnologicas (CIEMAT) in Madrid, have discovered two **proteins** that control when and how these stem cells switch to being **skin cells**. The findings, published online today in Nature Cell Biology, shed light on the basic mechanisms involved not only in formation of skin, but also on **skin cancer** and other **epithelial cancers**. "European Molecular Biology Laboratory":[ http://www.embl.de/aboutus/communication_outreach/media_relations/2009/090913_Monterotondo/index.html]

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