In vitro evidence for matrix regulation of intestinal epithelial biology during mucosal healing

We now know that restitution is more than a process of dedifferentiation and random cell movement across a wound defect. In fact, it is an orderly and regulated process in which gut mucosal epithelial cells adopt a migratory phenotype involving alterations in the cytoskeleton and intracellular motors likely to be tightly regulated by integrin-associated signal proteins and downstream second messengers. The extracellular matrix influences restitution not only as a physical substrate but also by modulating the expression, organization, and activation of the relevant intracellular proteins, as well as by modulating the expression and organization of receptors for soluble factors in the extracellular environment which also influence cell motility. The additional potential avenue of mechanicochemical signaling initiated by cytoskeletal rearrangement awaits further investigation.