Fibroblasts - the cellular choreographers of wound healing

Samuel Knoedler; Sonja Broichhausen; Ruiji Guo; Ruoxuan Dai; Leonard Knoedler; Martin Kauke-Navarro; Fortunay Diatta; Bohdan Pomahac; Hans-Guenther Machens; Dongsheng Jiang; Yuval Rinkevich

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1233800

Fibroblasts - the cellular choreographers of wound healing

Front Immunol. 2023 Aug 14:14:1233800. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1233800. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Samuel Knoedler^{1

2

3

4}, Sonja Broichhausen⁵, Ruiji Guo^{1

4}, Ruoxuan Dai⁴, Leonard Knoedler², Martin Kauke-Navarro², Fortunay Diatta², Bohdan Pomahac², Hans-Guenther Machens¹, Dongsheng Jiang⁴, Yuval Rinkevich⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
² Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
³ Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
⁴ Institute of Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany.
⁵ Department of Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Microsurgery, Burn Trauma Center, BG Trauma Center Ludwigshafen, University of Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen, Germany.

Abstract

Injuries to our skin trigger a cascade of spatially- and temporally-synchronized healing processes. During such endogenous wound repair, the role of fibroblasts is multifaceted, ranging from the activation and recruitment of innate immune cells through the synthesis and deposition of scar tissue to the conveyor belt-like transport of fascial connective tissue into wounds. A comprehensive understanding of fibroblast diversity and versatility in the healing machinery may help to decipher wound pathologies whilst laying the foundation for novel treatment modalities. In this review, we portray the diversity of fibroblasts and delineate their unique wound healing functions. In addition, we discuss future directions through a clinical-translational lens.

Keywords: fascia; fibroblast; fibroblast diversity; skin injury; skin regeneration; wound healing; wound repair.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cicatrix
Fibroblasts*
Humans
Skin
Wound Healing*

Grants and funding

YR is funded by the European Research Council Consolidator Grant (ERC-CoG 819933), the LEO Foundation (LF-OC-21-000835), the German Research Foundation (SFB/TRR359 PILOT), the European Union Horizon 2020 (Marie Curie 955722 SkinTERM), and the European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) Anniversary Fund Programme.