07. Wound healing and scarring/fibrosis

After our skin has been damaged and become inflamed, it can sometimes heal so well that it looks like there has never been an injury. But a more severe wound is repaired using a process called fibrosis that produces a scar. This process involves cells called fibrocytes and proteins like collagen to glue our skin back together. In epidermolysis bullosa, skin proteins like collagen might not be working properly so the process of wound healing might not happen in the way it is expected to. Understanding how wound healing and scarring are supposed to happen can help researchers to find out which parts of the process are affected in EB and find targets for treatments. 

 

Image credit: 417 Tissue Repair, by OpenStax College, Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/, Jun 19, 2013. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.