Regeneration of injured skin and peripheral nerves requires control of wound contraction, not scar formation.

ABSTRACT: We review the mounting evidence that regeneration is induced in wounds in skin and peripheral nerves by a simple modification of the wound healing process. Here, the process of induced regeneration is compared to the other two well-known processes by which wounds close, i.e., contraction and scar formation. Direct evidence supports the hypothesis that the mechanical force of contraction (planar in skin wounds, circumferential in nerve wounds) is the driver guiding the orientation of assemblies of myofibroblasts (MFB) and collagen fibers during scar formation in untreated wounds. We conclude that scar formation depends critically on wound contraction and is, therefore, a healing process secondary to contraction. Wound contraction and regeneration did not coincide during healing in a number

SUBMITTER: Yannas IV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5520812 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature