Mechanical tension promotes skin nerve regeneration by upregulating nerve growth factor expression

Hu Xiao; Dechang Wang; Ran Huo; Yibing Wang; Yongqiang Feng; Qiang Li

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.17.005

Mechanical tension promotes skin nerve regeneration by upregulating nerve growth factor expression

Neural Regen Res. 2013 Jun 15;8(17):1576-81. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.17.005.

Authors

Hu Xiao¹, Dechang Wang¹, Ran Huo¹, Yibing Wang¹, Yongqiang Feng¹, Qiang Li¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Burn and Plastic Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, Shandong Province, China.

PMID: 25206453
PMCID: PMC4145962
DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.17.005

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the role of mechanical tension in hypertrophic scars and the change in nerve density using hematoxylin-eosin staining and S100 immunohistochemistry, and to observe the expression of nerve growth factor by western blot analysis. The results demonstrated that mechanical tension contributed to the formation of a hyperplastic scar in the back skin of rats, in conjunction with increases in both nerve density and nerve growth factor expression in the scar tissue. These experimental findings indicate that the cutaneous nervous system plays a role in hypertrophic scar formation caused by mechanical tension.

Keywords: grants-supported paper; hypertrophic scar; innervation; keloid; mechanical tension; nerve growth factor; neural regeneration; neuroregeneration; surgery; wound healing.