{"id":10174,"date":"2025-04-25T09:40:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T08:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?p=10174"},"modified":"2025-04-25T09:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T08:40:29","slug":"news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin&#8217;s resilience &#8211; what&#8217;s the connection?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/72Cl9I96opA?si=FPkXF-H7xYHbSoGs\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The skin of an adult human being measures about 1.5 square metres and weighs approximately four kilos for an average-sized individual. It\u2019s not only the largest organ in our body but is also <\/span><b>our first major protective barrier<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, defending the body from bacteria, harmful chemicals and extreme temperatures. But <\/span><b>what do its physical well-being and resilience depend on? <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A new study from Spain\u2019s National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) has revealed that <\/span><b>the immune system may play a key role.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this latest edition of <\/span><b><i>News from the Lab<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, CaixaResearch researcher <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-meeting-health-2022-who-is-who-andres-hidalgo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Andr\u00e9s Hidalgo <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and <\/span><b>&#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation fellow <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/becarios.fundacionlacaixa.org\/en\/tommaso-vicanolo--B005610?nav=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>Tommaso Vicanolo <\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explain their new finding, published in the journal <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-025-08741-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nature<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. They have discovered that <\/span><b>a special type of immune cell (called neutrophils) is capable of modifying the resistance and permeability of the skin<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, revealing that the immune system not only fights infections but also physically reinforces our great barrier to repel external attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-10169\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-300x184.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"245\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-300x184.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-1024x628.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-768x471.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-1536x942.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-2048x1257.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Neutrophils are immune cells in the blood known for defending against infection, but Hidalgo and Vicanolo&#8217;s work has revealed an unexpected role: neutrophils are able to penetrate the skin to generate collagen and other proteins that help <\/span><b>strengthen the skin barrier<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. These cells reinforce the skin under normal conditions but also react actively to injury, forming <\/span><b>protective structures<\/b> <b>around wounds <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to stop bacteria or toxins from entering.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Moreover, we observed that these neutrophil functions are influenced by circadian rhythms, i.e. they <\/span><b>act differently depending on whether it\u2019s day or night<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; explains Tommaso. &#8220;In fact, neutrophils enter the skin at night, making this tissue harder and less flexible. This invites us to investigate further how the body&#8217;s internal rhythms influence tissue regeneration and repair\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study also revealed that this structural function of neutrophils is regulated by a set of signals we call the TGF-\u03b2 pathway. When this mechanism was deactivated, the researchers observed that the skin became more fragile and permeable. &#8220;This suggests that <\/span><b>the interaction between the immune system and the structure of our skin is more complex than previously thought<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8221; notes Andr\u00e9s, who is currently at the Yale School of Medicine in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although this finding has been made in animal models, the researchers say they have found evidence that the same is true in people, where neutrophils are very abundant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This discovery <\/span><b>opens up new avenues for understanding the immune system and could also inspire treatments for skin diseases and immune system disorders<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. &#8220;These findings are likely to have implications for therapies aimed at strengthening the skin barrier in people with inflammatory diseases, diabetes and ageing, among many other conditions&#8221; Andr\u00e9s concludes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/72Cl9I96opA?si=FPkXF-H7xYHbSoGs\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">\ufeff<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The skin of an adult human being measures about 1.5 square metres and weighs approximately four kilos for an average-sized individual. It\u2019s not only the largest organ in our body but is also our first major protective barrier, defending the body from bacteria, harmful chemicals and extreme temperatures. But what do its physical well-being and resilience depend on? A new study from Spain\u2019s National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) has revealed that the immune system may play a key role.<\/p>\n<p>In this latest edition of <i>News from the Lab<\/i>, CaixaResearch researcher <a href=\"https:\/\/caixaresearch.org\/en\/caixaresearch-meeting-health-2022-who-is-who-andres-hidalgo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Andr\u00e9s Hidalgo <\/a>and &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation fellow <a href=\"https:\/\/becarios.fundacionlacaixa.org\/en\/tommaso-vicanolo--B005610?nav=true\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tommaso Vicanolo <\/a>explain their new finding,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[601,600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research","category-science-outreach"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin&#039;s resilience - what&#039;s the connection? - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin&#039;s resilience - what&#039;s the connection? - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\ufeff The skin of an adult human being measures about 1.5 square metres and weighs approximately four kilos for an average-sized individual. It\u2019s not only the largest organ in our body but is also our first major protective barrier, defending the body from bacteria, harmful chemicals and extreme temperatures. But what do its physical well-being and resilience depend on? A new study from Spain\u2019s National Centre for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) has revealed that the immune system may play a key role. In this latest edition of News from the Lab, CaixaResearch researcher Andr\u00e9s Hidalgo and &#8220;la Caixa&#8221; Foundation fellow Tommaso Vicanolo explain their new finding,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-25T08:40:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1571\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ubikmedia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/\",\"name\":\"News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin's resilience - what's the connection? - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-300x184.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-25T08:40:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b9d5310c27055b4862191402c387fca\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-300x184.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_0325-300x184.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/\",\"name\":\"Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2b9d5310c27055b4862191402c387fca\",\"name\":\"Ubikmedia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ccc66bc497f8ba496f9d06e5a58a91de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ccc66bc497f8ba496f9d06e5a58a91de?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ubikmedia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/author\/ubikmedia\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin's resilience - what's the connection? - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.caixaresearch.org\/en\/news-from-the-lab-the-immune-system-and-our-skins-resilience-whats-the-connection\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"News from the Lab: The immune system and our skin's resilience - what's the connection? - Blog CaixaCi\u00e8ncia","og_description":"\ufeff The skin of an adult human being measures about 1.5 square metres and weighs approximately four kilos for an average-sized individual. 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