Stem cell dynamics, migration and plasticity during wound healing

Abstract

Tissue repair is critical for animal survival. The skin epidermis is particularly exposed to injuries which necessitates rapid repair. The coordinated action of distinct epidermal stem cells recruited from various skin regions together with other cell types including fibroblasts and immune cells is required to ensure efficient and harmonious wound healing. A complex crosstalk ensures the activation, migration and plasticity of these cells during tissue repair.

Hair follicle stem cell progeny heal blisters while pausing skin development

“…While many studies have deciphered the cellular contribution to full-thickness skin wound healing (9,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), how subepidermal blisters heal is poorly understood. In contrast to conventional experiments that produce full-thickness skin wounds, the suction-blister method specifically removes all epidermal layers without interfering with the dermis (21)(22)(23).…”

“…Former studies on skin wounding combined with fate mapping of murine skin delineated the involvement of epithelial, mesenchymal, and immune cells in wound healing, depending on different settings (8,9). Our study has an advantage over conventional skin wounding studies in that all epidermal layers were removed through constant negative pressure with the basement membrane being retained in the dermis, which allowed us to examine "pure" epidermal wound healing processes.…”

“…Skin wounding causes pain and carries a significant risk of bacterial infection. The sources of skin wound healing have been extensively investigated in experimental animals (8,9). Hair follicles (HFs), epidermal appendages, fibroblasts, and immune cells coordinate to heal the wound, and the contribution of each component can vary depending on the assay (10).…”

“…The epidermis is detached from the dermis in several pathological conditions, such as burns (11), congenital defects in epidermal BMZ proteins (epidermolysis bullosa (EB)) (12,13), autoimmunity to these proteins (pemphigoid diseases) (14), and severe drug reactions, such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (15). Although the cells that contribute to the repair of full-5 thickness skin wounds have been identified (9,(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), the healing dynamics of subepidermal blisters have not been well characterized.…”

Comparative study of contact repulsion in control and mutant macrophages using a novel interaction detection

“…Cellular migration is a process of of great importance in many biological processes, for instance endothelial migration [1], infection [2], angiogenesis [3], tissue regeneration [4], inflammation [5,6,7,8,9], cellular invasion by parasites [10], metabolic changes in macrophages due to hypoxia [11], cancer invasion and metastasis [12,13,14], embryogenesis [15,16], healing of wounds [17,18] and in the context of this work, the development of the immune system [19,20,21]. Together with neutrophils, macrophages are important cells of the immune system [22,6].…”