Scarless wound healing is possible
Last reviewed: 16.04.2020
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Researchers representing the Helmholtz Munich Center are starting to develop a new method of scarless wound healing.
Previously, scientists believed that the likelihood of restoration of skin lesions without scar formation is too small, since it requires quite sophisticated techniques that work at the cell level. To date, doctors have changed their minds and believe that modern technology is quite capable of coping with this revolutionary problem.
The European organization ERC in the coming years plans to invest about two million euros in the project expedition ScarLessWorld, which starts with Professor Yuval Rinkevich at the head. “At all times, people have sought to realize the possibility of regeneration of tissues and organs. And it’s a little strange that this industry is currently being studied on an insufficient scale, ”says Professor Rinkevich, who leads the research team for the cellular treatment of chronic pulmonary pathologies.
Employees of the Institute of Lung Biology, led by a professor, have recently made themselves known by a new discovery. So, experts found that fibroblasts - connective tissue structures involved in wound healing - are not a homogeneous substance, but at least four types of cells, each of which in its own way affects the formation of scars.
“For example, with damage to the skin of the embryo, regeneration takes place without a trace. But an adult always has scars after healing, ”says the professor.
Further experiments led scientists to discover the heterogeneity of skin fibroblasts. The number of regenerating cells decreases over the years, and the number of scar-forming structures, on the contrary, grows. When transplanting embryonic fibroblasts into damaged tissues of an adult rodent, scar formation occurs almost imperceptibly, scars do not form. Based on this discovery, scientists thought about developing a method for scarless tissue repair, for subsequent implementation in clinical practice.
The expeditionary work announced by the researchers involves compiling a complete list of skin fibroblasts, determining their significance in the regeneration mechanism, identifying the genes responsible for wound healing and scar formation, as well as a clinical trial with the further practical introduction of new technology.
“Currently, ways to prevent the formation of gross scars - in particular after burns - are very limited. If the discovery is successful, then it can be used to treat not only wounds and burns, but also pulmonary fibrosis, in which tissue scarring also occurs, ”experts say.
Information is provided on the NCBI Resource Page.