detail each of the mechanisms of renewal for a)skin , b)hair c) nails

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 08 Feb 2003 13:23 PST

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tutuzdad-ga

Hello kiransoo,

I found an article which details how skin, hair and nails are renewed.
I have selected some excerpts, but you might want to read through the
entire article:
"Encarta Encyclopedia Article"
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761569048

"The skin is made up of two layers, the epidermis and the dermis. The
epidermis, the upper or outer layer of the skin, is a tough,
waterproof, protective layer. The dermis, or inner layer, is thicker
than the epidermis and gives the skin its strength and elasticity."

The article says that the Epidermis is made up of mostly
keratinocytes. The youngest cells would be at the bottom and the
oldest at the top.

"The old keratinocytes at the surface of the skin constantly slough
off. Meanwhile, cells in the lower layers of the epidermis divide
continually, producing new keratinocytes to replace those that have
sloughed off. As keratinocytes push up through the layers of the
epidermis, they age and, in the process, produce keratin. By the time
the cells reach the uppermost layer of the epidermis, they are dead
and completely filled with the tough protein."

Apparently a healthy epidermus is replaced every month! You can read
about the other layer of the skin in the article.

Hair: "Hair is composed primarily of keratin. The protein is packed
into dead keratinocytes, much like those found in the upper layers of
the epidermis. The dead keratinocytes fuse together to form the hair.
The portion of the hair above the skin is known as the shaft, while
that below the surface of the skin is known as the root."
Again, the article has much more detail about this process.

For nails, they are also made up of "hard, keratin-filled epidermal
cells."
"Nails grow as epidermal cells below the nail root and transform into
hard nail cells that accumulate at the base of the nail, pushing the
rest of the nail forward."

I hope this was the type of answer you were looking for. If you need
any clarifications, please let me know and I will do my best to
further assist you.

tisme-ga


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