Opening up wound secrets to avoid scarring (7/28/2008)

Queensland University of Technology research is setting the scene for a better understanding of why some serious wounds lead to unsightly and debilitating scars and how they can be avoided.

PhD researcher Cameron Hall, from QUT's School of Mathematical Sciences, has developed a mathematical model of the conflicting forces at workwhen healing cells arrive at the site of a burn or cut to do the work of closing the wound.

His research will help to explain how normal wounds heal as well as exploring how "overhealing" can lead to the creation of hypertrophic.

"Hypertrophic scars happen when the cells in the skin try too hard to close a wound, This makes the skin contract, leading to pain and disfigurement," Mr Hall said.

"Some people also have a genetic susceptibility to form keloid scars. These are even worse; not only are they large, lumpy and painful but they can also grow to be much larger than the original wound."

"In order to understand how hypertrophic scars and keloids develop, we need to look at the healing processes that happen in the dermis or deep layer of the skin," Mr Hall said.

"This is very complicated because of the competing effects of chemical and mechanical signals."

He investigated the way these signals affect the process of wound repair.

"When the skin is burned or lacerated, some of the cells deep in the wound begin to act like muscle cells. They pull on the fibres around them in order to drag the rest of the wound closed. Importantly, these cells can change how hard they pull depending on what's going on around them," Mr Hall said.

"The process of cell pulling has been seen in experiments, but we need to use mathematical models in order to really understand what's going on."

Mr Hall's research could potentially shed light on the mystery of how pressure bandages promote healing with less scarring.

"We still don't know why pressure bandages are so effective, even though we've been using them for decades. By modelling the forces in the skin, we hope to explain the success of pressure bandages and maybe even suggest improvements to the current treatments.

"As a modeller, my job is to give biologists new insights into the fundamental processes that drive their experiments. These results can spark new investigations into finding biological solutions to healing and scarring problems."

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Queensland University of Technology

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