Abstract
Keloids are a pathological healing response that result in scars that overgrow the boundary of the initial wound area with no known cause or cure. Our lack of understanding is due to an insufficient framework to study this phenomenon; there is no animal model that mimics the disease and research relies on primary clinical samples from individual patients, which slows the pace of research. This project aims to develop an in vitro model of scarring, characterising the altered composition and mechanics of the extracellular matrix, in order to elucidate causes of and treatments for the disease.
References
1. Matsubayashi Y, Louani A, Dragu A, Sánchez-Sánchez BJ, Serna-Morales E, Yolland L, Gyoergy A, Vizcay G, Fleck RA, Heddleston JM, Chew TL, Siekhaus DE, Stramer BM. A Moving Source of Matrix Components Is Essential for De Novo Basement Membrane Formation. Curr Biol. 2017 Nov 20;27(22):3526-3534.e4.
2. Shaw TJ, Martin P. Wound repair: a showcase for cell plasticity and migration. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2016 Oct;42:29-37.
Kaukonen R, Jacquemet G, Hamidi H, Ivaska J. Cell-derived matrices for studying cell proliferation and directional migration in a complex 3D microenvironment. Nat Protoc. 2017 Nov;12(11):2376-2390.
3. Lu P, Takai K, Weaver VM, Werb Z. Extracellular matrix degradation and remodeling in development and disease. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2011;3(12).
4. Verhaegen PD, van Zuijlen PP, Pennings NM, van Marle J, Niessen FB, van der Horst CM, et al. Differences in collagen architecture between keloid, hypertrophic scar, normotrophic scar, and normal skin: An objective histopathological analysis. Wound Repair Regen. 2009;17(5):649-56.
5. Duclos G, Garcia S, Yevick HG, Silberzan P. Perfect nematic order in confined monolayers of spindle-shaped cells. Soft Matter. 2014;10(14):2346-53.