Scarless fetal skin wound healing update

• Published in: Birth defects research. Part C. Embryo today Vol. 96; no. 3; pp. 237 - 247
• Main Authors: Lo, David D., Zimmermann, Andrew S., Nauta, Allison, Longaker, Michael T., Lorenz, H. Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.09.2012; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Cicatrix - physiopathology; Cytokines - metabolism; Extracellular Matrix - physiology; fetal skin; Fetus - physiology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation - genetics; Gene Expression Regulation - physiology; Humans; Inflammation - physiopathology; Macrophages - physiology; Mast Cells - physiology; Medical research; Neutrophils - physiology; scar formation; scarless wound healing; Skin Physiological Phenomena; Wound healing; Wound Healing - genetics; Wound Healing - physiology
• ISSN: 1542-975X; 1542-9768
• DOI: 10.1002/bdrc.21018

Scar formation, a physiologic process in adult wound healing, can have devastating effects for patients; a multitude of pathologic outcomes, affecting all organ systems, stems from an amplification of this process. In contrast to adult wound repair, the early‐gestation fetal skin wound heals without scar formation, a phenomenon that appears to be intrinsic to fetal skin. An intensive research effort has focused on unraveling the mechanisms that underlie scarless fetal wound healing in an attempt to improve the quality of healing in both children and adults. Unique properties of fetal cells, extracellular matrix, cytokine profile, and gene expression contribute to this scarless repair. Despite the great increase in knowledge gained over the past decades, the precise mechanisms regulating scarless fetal healing remain unknown. Herein, we describe the current proposed mechanisms underlying fetal scarless wound healing in an effort to recapitulate the fetal phenotype in the postnatal environment. Birth Defects Research (Part C) 96:237–247, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.