Congenital dermal sinus It ensures that neurological condition does not degrade and prevents infection. Diagnosis can be confirmed through the use of advanced neuroimaging to observe the tract and associated lesions. During normal development, cutaneous ectoderm separates from neuroectoderm to allow for the insertion of mesoderm. That is, the skin separates from the tissue of the spinal cord to allow proper formation of the vertebral column. In cases of congenital dermal sinus there is a failure in this process, resulting in formation of a persistent connection between the skin and neural tissue. This manifests as a tract extending from the surface of the
Dermal fibroblast by researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, dermal cell "human keratinocyte [stem cells] could be propagated in vitro when culture on fibroblast feeder cells." In addition to improving the culture and proliferation of stem cells, dermal fibroblasts can also become stem cells. Although dermal cells demonstrate less plasticity than other fibroblast cell types, researchers can still turn these cells into induced pluripotent cells (IPCs). As noted by researchers within the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, researchers obtained fibroblasts from a mouse with sickle cell anemia and, using a virus, "reprogrammed these cells into pluripotent [stem cells], corrected the genetic deficiency