Despite advancements in treating wounds, the molecular mechanisms behind wound healing is not fully understood. Now, researchers at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), have identified a new molecular pathway that promotes wound healing in the skin. Their findings could even play a role in nonhealing wounds.
Their findings are published in the journal JCI Insight in a paper titled, “GRHL3 activates FSCN1 to relax cell-cell adhesions between migrating keratinocytes during wound reepithelialization.”
“The migrating keratinocyte wound front is required for skin wound closure. Despite significant advances in wound healing research, we do not fully understand the molecular mechanisms that orchestrate collective keratinocyte migration,” the researchers wrote. “Here, we show that, in the wound front, the epidermal transcription factor Grainyhead like-3 (GRHL3) mediates decreased expression of the adherens junction protein E-cadherin; this results in relaxed adhesions between suprabasal keratinocytes, thus promoting collective cell migration and wound closure.” … read more