Connexin 43 expression in irradiated human neck skin: a prospective case-control study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Overexpression of connexin 43 (Cx43) is seen in chronic cutaneous wounds of humans, and downregulation of Cx43 expedites healing. Human epithelia that have received radiotherapy can also suffer from chronic wounds. Since increased expression of Cx43 was observed in murine skin following irradiation, we sought to confirm this in irradiated human neck skin because Cx43 inhibition may be a novel treatment of wounds in such tissue.

Methods

We prospectively recruited adult patients who underwent elective neck surgery between November 2017 and March 2018 in the Otorhinolaryngology Department of a tertiary hospital in Singapore. A sample size of five patients with prior radiotherapy to 25 controls without radiotherapy was planned a priori. Immunohistochemical staining of

SUBMITTER: Li H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11921269 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature