The wound healing process relies on finetuned cross-talk between several different cell types that reside in the skin, most notably keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The gene signaling pathways that regulate proliferation and migration of these cells, and the resulting paracrine signaling are of great interest to deepen our understanding of the wound healing process and identifying potential therapeutic targets. To this end, we are currently creating gene expression profiles for keratinocytes and fibroblasts in culture, coupled with bioinformatic pathway analyses. Moreover, detailed studies of changes in proliferative and migratory functions of the cell types in relation to paracrine cross-talk is achieved using in vitro-based methods.
Gene regulation of human skin cells