[Epithelio-mesenchymal transition and cutaneous wound healing].
Successful cutaneous wound repair involves in a series of tightly coordinated and overlapping phases, including inflammation and clot formation, keratinocyte activation and migration (re-epithelialization), basement membrane and ECM remodeling, followed by dermal and epidermal maturation. We examine here the process of wound re-epithelialization, emphasizing the similarity between re-epithelialization and developmental epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), based on morphological and molecular criteria. Changes in cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesion during re-epithelialization are also reminiscent of pathological processes described during malignant tumor progression, another situation involving partial or total EMT. We therefore propose that wound re-epithelialization represents a partial and reversible form of EMT.
Savagner
Pierre
P
IRCM, Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier, INSERM U896 CRLC Val d'Aurelle Paul Lamarque, Montpellier, France. psavagner@valdorel.fnclcc.fr
Arnoux
Valérie
V
D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000502:physiology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000502:physiology*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*