New information has come to light explaining how injured skin cells and touch-sensing nerve fibers coordinate their regeneration during wound healing. UCLA researchers Sandra Rieger and Alvaro Sagasti found that a chemical signal released by wounded skin cells promotes the regeneration of sensory fibers, thus helping to ensure that touch sensation is restored to healing skin. They discovered that the reactive oxygen species hydrogen peroxide, which is found at high concentrations at wounds, is a key component of this signal.
The study, published on May 24th in the online, open access journal PLoS Biology, was conducted in zebrafish larvae – an experimental model widely used to investigate development and regeneration. The optical transparency of these larvae make it possible to image sensory fibers in live animals and measure their regeneration.
Detection of touch stimuli, such as pressure, temperature, and noxious chemicals, is achieved by peripheral sensory axons, which form highly branched networks in the skin. Following injury, skin cells proliferate and migrate to seal the wound, and peripheral sensory axons innervating the skin must also regenerate to restore sensory function. Experiments in amphibians and chickens have suggested that wounded skin promotes peripheral axon regeneration, but molecular mediators of this effect had not been identified. Hydrogen peroxide has long been known to be a toxic byproduct of cellular damage, but only recently has it been appreciated that low concentrations of it can activate certain molecular pathways that regulate cellular development. Whether hydrogen peroxide also plays a role in peripheral axon regeneration had not been explored…
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