The Biology of Skin Health, Repair and Scarring
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of Skin Homeostasis, Repair and Scarring
IRAS ID
303648
Contact name
Tanya Shaw
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 1 months, 31 days
Research summary
When our skin gets cut, it is important that the wound heals quickly in order to protect us from the environment. To achieve this, the cells that comprise the outermost layer of skin, the epidermis, divide and migrate to cover over the wound. When a cut is sufficiently deep that the underlying tissue, the dermis, is also damaged, the cells that inhabit this dermal tissue layer, called fibroblasts, undergo dramatic changes to help draw the wound closed through contraction, and to help rebuild the lost tissue by secreting new structural proteins, such as collagen. Unfortunately, this process leads to scarring. In its mildest form, scarring may present only a minor cosmetic problem, but in the most severe cases, in which these fibroblasts are out of control, they can give rise to keloid or hypertrophic scars.
Normal tissue repair requires that cells at the wound site “reprogram” and acquire new characteristics that will contribute to successful repair. For example, fibroblasts must upregulate their expression of machinery for contraction and migration, as well as extracellular matrix proteins, to ensure wound closure and reconstruction of the skin structure. We are interested in how cellular identity changes during normal wound repair, how this plasticity may be regulated by the inflammatory and matrix environment and how these processes become dysregulated in keloid and hypertrophic scars, including the development of pain and itch sensation. We are also interested in how the cells can intrinsically reprogram and how this may be harnessed for application in regenerative medicine.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/PR/1695
Date of REC Opinion
16 Feb 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion