FOXO3A Plays a Role in Wound Healing by Regulating Fibroblast Mitochondrial Dynamics

The skin plays a protective role against harmful environmental stress such as UV rays. Therefore, the skin is constantly exposed to potential injuries, and wound healing is a vital process for the survival of all higher organisms. Wound healing is dependent on aging and metabolic status at a whole-body level. Because the FOXO family plays a role in aging and metabolism, we investigated the molecular functions of FOXO3A in skin wound healing using FoxO3a^-/- mice. We observed that FoxO3a^-/- mice showed accelerated skin wound healing. During wound healing, more fibroblasts accumulated at the wound edges and migrated into the wound bed in FoxO3a^-/- mice. Moreover, cell migration of dermal fibroblasts isolated from FoxO3a^-/- mice was significantly induced. During the in vitro cell migration, we observed accelerated mitochondrial fragmentation and decreased oxygen consumption in the mitochondria of FoxO3a^-/- fibroblasts. These changes were caused by the upregulation of mitochondrial Rho GTPase 1, which is an essential mediator of microtubule-based mitochondrial motility. Mitochondrial Rho GTPase 1 inhibition significantly attenuated cell migration, mitochondrial fragmentation, and mitochondrial recruitment to the leading edge of the cells. These data indicate that FOXO3A plays a crucial role in wound healing by regulating mitochondrial dynamics.