Developmental cell programs are co-opted in inflammatory skin disease

Cellular beauty is skin deep Human skin works as barrier, preventing the entry of pathogens, among other functions. Reynolds et al. used single-cell sequencing to generate an atlas of the human skin from both developing and adult sources, identifying differences and similarities across heterogeneous populations of skin cells. In this atlas, gene expression in the two disease states studied—atopic dermatitis and psoriasis—varied from that in a healthy adult, suggesting that a fetal skin signature is expressed in adult inflamed skin. Furthermore, differences in immune cell composition between healthy fetal and adult skin and that of individuals suffering from disease were observed. Science , this issue p. eaba6500