Saving Faces

How many emotions will pass across your face today? The average human is capable of 21 distinct expressions, all finely controlled by numerous facial muscles sparked into action by nerves and supplied with energy from blood vessels. In head and neck cancer patients, removal of large areas of this complex tissue is often the only resort, leaving behind the difficult challenge of its reconstruction. Various stem cells have been tested to regenerate this tissue but the intricate mix of blood vessels, muscles and nerves has proven tricky to reproduce. Researchers have now tried grafting sheets of skeletal muscle stem cells. Following the removal of facial tissue in rodents, these grafted cells (green) developed into a variety of cell types and encircled nerve cells (red) to aid their regeneration. This translated into improved muscle contractions and whisker movements. Further research will reveal if these cells can similarly aid human facial reconstruction.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Kosuke Saito and colleagues
• Tokai University School of Medicine, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in PLOS ONE, September 2015