The Impact of Cyclooxygenase-2 Mediated Inflammation on Scarless Fetal Wound Healing

Abstract

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and the prostaglandin products generated as a result of COX-2 activity mediate a variety of biological and pathological processes. Scarless healing occurs in fetal skin in the first and second trimesters of development. This scarless healing process is known to proceed without a significant inflammatory response, which appears to be important for the lack of scarring. Because the COX-2 pathway is an integral component of inflammation, we investigated its role in the fetal repair process using a mouse model of scarless fetal wound healing. COX-2 expression in scarless and fibrotic fetal wounds was examined. In addition, the ability of exogenous prostaglandin E(2) to alter scarless fetal healing was evaluated. The results suggest that the COX-2 pathway is involved in scar production in fetal skin and that targeting COX-2 may be useful for limiting scar formation in adult skin.

Regulation of scar formation by vascular endothelial growth factor

“…10 Therefore, we investigated whether the effects of VEGF blockade on scarring could be attributed to a decrease in acute inflammation with anti-VEGF antibody injections. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect neutrophils (Figure 8a) or macrophages ( Figure 8b) in 24 h wounds, and the number of cells per high-power field (HPF) was counted.…”

“…[7][8][9] Thus, murine fetal skin can be wounded in utero at E15 and E18 to investigate scarless and fibrotic fetal healing, respectively. 10 Angiogenesis, the process of new blood vessel growth, is a key element of the proliferative phase of healing. Most studies suggest that neovascularization is important for healing, supplying oxygen and nutrients to support the rapid growth of the cells mediating repair.…”

A Mouse Fetal Skin Model of Scarless Wound Repair

“…In addition to other established models of excisional wounding 11 , incisional models of fetal murine scarless healing exist as well 12,13 . Investigations of fetal scarless wound healing in the monkey, lamb, rabbit, opossum, and rat have been reported [14][15][16][17] .…”

Prostaglandin E2Up-regulation and Wound Healing Effect of the Ethanol Extract of Eriobotryae Folium in Human Keratinocyte

“…After acting via its PGE 2 receptor (EPR), pericellular PGE 2 is cleared via re-uptake by PG transporter (PGT) and then rapidly metabolized by cytosolic enzyme named NAD + -dependent 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) (Schuste, 1998). PGE 2 has been identified as an important mediator for gastric ulcer healing (Chatterjee et al, 2012;Yamamoto et al, 2012;de-Faria et al, 2012), dermal wound healing (Choi et al, 2013;Wilgus et al, 2004) and anti-fibrotic activity (Zhou et al, 2012).…”