The skin cells of persons diagnosed with FTD may help in understanding the molecular mechanisms of the disease, a recent study from the University of Eastern Finland shows.

El estudio, publicado en Molecular Neurobiology, compared the cellular features and the functional properties of persons with FTD derived from skin fibroblast biopsies. Fibroblasts are found within the dermis layer of the skin.

Researchers also found that skin fibroblasts could be useful for FTD biomarker discovery and testing drugs targeted to specific cellular functions.

Según un artículo publicado en Science Daily, the changes observed in the skin fibroblasts were similar to those seen in the brains of persons diagnosed with FTD.

Annakaisa Haapasalo, research director at the University of Eastern Finland, said that “because brain cells can rarely be obtained from the brains of living patients, other patient-derived cells, such as skin fibroblasts, are extremely useful in research. Their use enables clarifying disease mechanisms at the cellular and molecular level, and may prove useful in biomarker or drug research, even at the individual level.”

Read the full Science Daily article aquí.