In the injured spinal cord, a glial scar forms and becomes a major obstacle to axonal regeneration. Formation of the glial scar involves migration of astrocytes toward the lesion. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), including MMP-9 and MMP-2, govern cell migration through their ability to degrade constituents of the extracellular matrix. Although MMP-9 is expressed in reactive astrocytes, its inv...

Scars are a natural and unavoidable result from most wound repair procedures and the body's physiological healing response. However, they scars can cause considerable functional impairment and emotional and social distress. There are different forms of treatments that have been adopted to manage or eliminate scar formation. This review covers the latest research in the past decade on using eith...

Wound healing is a complex regulated process that results in skin scar formation in postnatal mammals. Chronic wounds are major medical problems that can confer devastating consequences. Currently, there are no treatments to prevent scarring. In the early fetus wounds heal without scarring and the healing process is characterized by relatively less inflammation compared to adults; therefore, re...

Corticosteroids are widely used as treatment for excessive scarring by intralesional injection with variable success rates. It is conceivable that systemically administered corticosteroids affect a wider range of inflammatory processes that influence wound healing and may be more successful in preventing hypertrophic scar formation. To study this presumption, we have used a standardized model o...

Cutaneous injuries causing scar tissue formation are relatively common and lead patients to seek treatment for cosmetic or functional improvement. Laser technology has evolved over the past few decades to become the treatment of choice for many types of scars, but determining the appropriate use of this technology comes with experience. This review will provide practical guidelines for the derm...

Scar formation is important for normal wound healing but proliferation of scar tissue from the epineurium in response to a nerve injury will result in impediment to the regenerating axons that need to traverse the repaired site. This article reviews the events that occur after peripheral nerve transection and the challenges that need to be addressed to reduce scarring in order to improve nerve ...

An important neuropathological feature of brain injury and neuroinflammation, including Multiple Sclerosis (MS), is the formation of an astroglial scar. Astroglial scar formation is facilitated by the interaction between astrocytes and extracellular matrix proteins (ECM) such as fibronectin. Since there is evidence indicating that glial scars strongly inhibit both axon growth and (re)myelinatio...

After spinal cord injury (SCI), astrocytes become hypertrophic, and proliferative, forming a dense network of astroglial processes at the site of the lesion. This constitutes a physical and biochemical barrier to axonal regeneration. Mitochondrial fission regulates cell cycle progression; inhibiting the cell cycle of astrocytes can reduce expression levels of axon growth-inhibitory molecules as...

Diverse eukaryotic cells crawl through complex environments using distinct modes of migration. To understand the underlying mechanisms and their evolutionary relationships, we must define each mode and identify its phenotypic and molecular markers. In this study, we focus on a widely dispersed migration mode characterized by dynamic actin-filled pseudopods that we call "α-motility." Mining geno...

A neck scar contracture can severely and negatively affect the function of mastication, phonic, or breathing and result in neck pain and issues with esthetics. The best way is of course to avoid such contracture by means of non-surgical treatment such as use of a growth factor. The basic fibroblastic growth factor is clinically well proven in decreasing scar formation and improving healing. The...