[Epithelio-mesenchymal transition and cutaneous wound healing]

Successful cutaneous wound repair involves in a series of tightly coordinated and overlapping phases, including inflammation and clot formation, keratinocyte activation and migration (re-epithelialization), basement membrane and ECM remodeling, followed by dermal and epidermal maturation. We examine here the process of wound re-epithelialization, emphasizing the similarity between re-epithelialization and developmental epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), based on morphological and molecular criteria. Changes in cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesion during re-epithelialization are also reminiscent of pathological processes described during malignant tumor progression, another situation involving partial or total EMT. We therefore propose that wound re-epithelialization represents a partial and reversible form of EMT.