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Causes and consequences of epigenetic regulation in wound healing
Dongdong Ti1, Meirong Li, Xiaobing Fu
1Institute of Basic Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Wound healing is a complex and systematic tissue level response to mechanical and chemical injuries that may cause the release of growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines by damaged tissues. For the complex features of these restorative processes, it is a crucial challenge to identify the relevant cell types and biochemical pathways that are involved in wound healing. Epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding regulatory RNA editing, play important roles in many biological processes, including cell proliferation, migration and differentiation, signal pathway activation or inhibition, and cell senescence. Epigenetic regulations can coordinately control a considerable subset of known repair genes and thus serve as master regulators of wound healing. An abundance of evidence has also shown that epigenetic modifications participate in the short- and long-term control of crucial gene expression and cell signal transduction that are involved in the healing process. These data provide a foundation for probable epigenetic-based therapeutic strategies that are aimed at stimulating tissue regeneration. This review describes the epigenetic alterations in different cellular types at injury sites, induced signals, and resulting tissue repair. With the increased interest in the epigenetics of wound and repair processes, this field will soon begin to flourish.
Insights
Epigenetic mechanisms regulate key genes and pathways in wound healing. Understanding these epigenetic modifications offers potential for new therapeutic strategies to enhance tissue regeneration.
Area of Science:
- Molecular Biology
- Regenerative Medicine
- Cellular Biology
Background:
- Wound healing involves complex tissue responses to injury, releasing various signaling molecules.
- Identifying specific cell types and biochemical pathways in healing remains a challenge.
- Epigenetic mechanisms are crucial regulators of fundamental cellular processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of epigenetic alterations in wound healing.
- To explore how epigenetic modifications influence cellular behavior and gene expression during repair.
- To discuss the potential of epigenetics in developing therapeutic strategies for tissue regeneration.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of epigenetic mechanisms in wound healing.
- Analysis of DNA methylation, histone modification, and noncoding RNA editing in repair processes.
- Examination of epigenetic control over cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and senescence.
Main Results:
- Epigenetic regulations act as master regulators, controlling subsets of repair genes.
- Epigenetic modifications influence both short- and long-term gene expression and cell signaling in healing.
- Alterations in epigenetic profiles are observed in different cell types at injury sites.
Conclusions:
- Epigenetic mechanisms are integral to the complex process of wound healing.
- Targeting epigenetic modifications presents a promising avenue for therapeutic interventions in tissue regeneration.
- The field of epigenetics in wound repair is rapidly expanding and holds significant future potential.