Project description:Large excisional wounds in mice prominently regenerate new hair follicles (HFs) and fat, yet humans are deficient for this regenerative behavior. Currently, wound-induced regeneration remains a clinically desirable, but only partially understood phenomenon. We show that large excisional wounds in rats across seven strains fail to regenerate new HFs. We compared wound transcriptomes between mice and rats at the time of scab detachment, which coincides with the onset of HF regeneration in mice. In both species, wound dermis and epidermis share core dermal and epidermal transcriptional programs, respectively, yet prominent interspecies differences exist. Compared with mice, rat epidermis expresses distinct transcriptional and epigenetic factors, markers of epidermal repair, hyperplasia, and inflammation, and lower levels of WNT signaling effectors and regulators. When recombined on the surface of excisional wounds with vibrissa dermal papillae, partial-thickness skin grafts containing distal pelage HF segments, but not interfollicular epidermis, readily regenerated new vibrissa-like HFs. Together, our findings establish rats as a nonregenerating rodent model for excisional wound healing and suggest that low epidermal competence and associated transcriptional profile may contribute to its regenerative deficiency. Future comparison between rat and mouse may lend further insight into the mechanism of wounding-induced regeneration and causes for its deficit.
Project description:The wound epidermis is required for limb regeneration. To elucidate the roles of the wound epidermis during early regeneration, we examined how the transcriptional programs of early dividing cells (enriched for blastemal progenitors) and non-dividing cells in regenerating stump tissues as well as epithelial cells change when we prevented wound epidermis formation.
Project description:The wounds were made on the back skin of Snhg26 knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice. The wound edge and skin tissue were collected and the epidermis were separated by incubate the tissue with dispaseII. Total RNA was extracted from the epidermis. The global transcriptome analysis of the epidermis were performed by using Affymetrix arrays.
Project description:Using microarray analysis, we explored the differences in gene expression in wounded and intact skin using murine model. Injured skin samples were examined at days 1 and 4 post injury. The results provide the detailed molecular profile of the the genetic response to injury. Two full-thickness dermal wounds were made on the opposite sides of the midline of each mouse using a 4 mm punch biopsy instrument. Wounds were made through the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue layers while leaving the fascia intact. At a specified time point after the wounding (1 and 4 days), mice were sacrificed by carbon dioxide inhalation. The wounds and surrounding tissues or intact skin samples were removed with an 8 mm biopsy punch.
Project description:The objective of this study was to investigate how active dermal connective tissue composition dynamics affect long term protein expression in the epidermis. After surgically removing damaged skin to its full thickness at the site of a deep burn in ten patients, we randomized three adjacent test areas within the wounds to receive either: 1) no dermal component as control, 2) a permanent artificial dermal matrix or 3) a temporary dressing to induce formation of granulation tissue. Each area was then covered with an autologous superficial healty skin transplant as the epidermal indicator. One year later, biopsy samples were taken from each site. The epidermis and dermis were selectively microdissected by laser-capture from cut tissue biopsy sections, and analyzed using untargeted non-labelled quantitative proteomics.
Project description:Wound healing is essential to repair the skin after injury. In the epidermis, distinct stem cells (SCs) populations contribute to wound healing. However, how SCs balance proliferation, differentiation and migration to repair a wound remains poorly understood. Here we show the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate wound healing in mouse tail epidermis. Using a combination of proliferation kinetics experiments and molecular profiling, we identify the gene signatures associated with proliferation, differentiation and migration in different regions surrounding the wound. Functional experiments show that SC proliferation, migration and differentiation can be uncoupled during wound healing. Lineage tracing and quantitative clonal analysis reveal that, following wounding, progenitors divide more rapidly, but conserve their homeostatic mode of division, leading to their rapid depletion whereas SCs become active, giving rise to new progenitors that expand and repair the wound. These results have important implications for tissue regeneration, acute and chronic wound disorders.
Project description:Human in vivo skin wound: Non-wounded skin was obtained by taking punch biopsies from three healthy donors (donor 1,2 and 3). The samples were termed 'skin day 0 in vivo wound'. Skin wound samples were retrieved by making new punch biopsies from the edge of the original biopsies after four days. These samples were termed 'skin day 4 in vivo wound'. As much dermal tissue as possible was removed by dissection to make sure mainly epidermis was present in the samples. The samples were washed in NaCl to possible remove infiltrating inflammatory cells before RNA isolation. Ex vivo skin wounds: Skin was obtained from three healthy donors following reduction surgery (donor 1, 2, and 3). As much dermal tissue as possible was removed dissection. These samples were termed 'skin day 0 ex vivo wound'. Skin was sliced into 1x10 mm slices and incubated in keratinocyte medium for four days with either 1:1000 fold dilution of DMSO or 10 micromolar AG-1478 (dissolved in DMSO). Again as much dermal tissue was removed by dissection as possible before RNA was isolated. These samples were termed 'skin day 4 ex vivo wound' and 'skin day 4 AG-1478 ex vivo wound'. By comparing the gene expression day 4 in ex vivo wound with in vivo wounds it was possible to see which part of the gene expression in wounded skin that was due to the epidermal reaction to injury and how much was due to stimuli from infiltrating inflammatory cells absent in the ex vivo skin wounds. By comparing the data from ex vivo skin wounds day 4 with and without the EGFR-inhibitor AG-1478, it was possible to look at the importance of the EGF-receptor of EGFR for the gene expression in ex vivo wounded skin.
Project description:Pressure ulcer (PU) is a chronic non-healing wound caused by continuous pressure of the bodyweight to the skin, which is often seen in spinal cord injury patients and in the bedridden elderly population. In spite of high mortality, the pathophysiology of PU remains poorly understood. We performed single-cell transcriptomic analysis of epidermal cells from PU wound-edges, and compared them with epidermal cells from the intact skin and normal acute wounds (AW) of healthy donors. We identified four keratinocyte clusters, one melanocyte cluster, and one immune cell cluster, and the cellular heterogeneity and gene expression were altered in PU. Our findings provided a high-resolution map of human PU and AW, which are likely to yield new areas for exploration of the pathophysiology of chronic wounds and development of wound therapy.