Contact Cooling-Induced ELOVL4 Enhances Skin Wound Healing by Promoting the Inflammation-to-Proliferation Phase...

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Dermatology
• Molecular Biology

Background:

• Wound healing rates fluctuate seasonally, with slower healing in extreme temperatures.
• The underlying mechanisms linking temperature to wound repair remain largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To elucidate the mechanism by which adequate temperature enhances wound healing.
• To identify key molecular players involved in temperature-modulated wound repair.

Main Methods:

• Utilized skin injury and organoid models.
• Employed bulk and single-cell RNA-sequencing and spatial transcriptomics.
• Performed in vivo functional perturbations and temperature adjustments.

Main Results:

• Contact cooling to 20°C significantly accelerated wound healing by upregulating epidermal ELOVL4 expression.
• ELOVL4 produces docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which reduce pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFα.
• This leads to a faster transition from inflammation to proliferation in tissue repair.

Conclusions:

• Adequate temperature facilitates wound healing by inducing ELOVL4, which curtails inflammation via DHA and EPA production.
• This study links fatty acid synthesis to wound repair and suggests contact cooling as a therapeutic approach.