Wound healing: The stem cell dynamic
One of the key questions in biology is to identify how tissues are repaired after trauma and understand how stem cells migrate, proliferate, and differentiate to repair tissue damage. In a study published in Nature Communications , researchers lead by Pr. Cédric Blanpain, MD/PhD, WELBIO investigator, and Professor at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, defined the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate wound healing in the skin. The skin is the first barrier protecting the animals against the external environment. When the skin barrier is disrupted, a cascade of cellular and molecular events is activated to repair the damage and restore skin integrity. Defects in these events can lead to improper repair causing acute and chronic wound disorders. In the skin, distinct stem cells populations contribute to wound healing. However, it remains unclear how these different stem cells populations balance proliferation, differentiation and migration during the healing...