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Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Using R, Seurat, and CellChat to Analyze a Single-Cell Transcriptomics Dataset of Mouse Skin Wound Healing
Published on: August 1, 2025
ILK-PI3K/AKT pathway participates in cutaneous wound contraction by regulating fibroblast migration and
Gang Li1, Ye-Yang Li1, Jing-En Sun1
1Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Guangzhou Red Cross Hospital, The First Clinical College of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Abstract:
The interactions between fibroblasts and the extracellular matrix in wound contraction are mainly mediated via integrin signaling. Integrin-linked kinase (ILK) is a key mediator in integrin signal transduction. We investigated the role of ILK in cutaneous wound contraction. We found that ILK was involved in cutaneous wound healing in rats, and ILK and PI3K/AKT inhibitors inhibited wound contraction and re-epithelialization, consequently delaying wound healing in vivo. Further, using in vitro studies, we demonstrated that ILK and PI3K/AKT inhibitors suppressed the contraction of fibroblast-populated collagen lattices, inhibited fibroblast migration, and interrupted the effect of TGF-β1 on promoting alpha smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) expression in fibroblasts. When ILK expression was directly blocked by ILK small interfering RNA transfection, the migration and α-SMA expression of normal dermal fibroblasts were significantly suppressed as well. The data suggest that the ILK-PI3K/AKT signaling pathway mediates cutaneous wound contraction by regulating fibroblast migration and differentiation to myofibroblasts.
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