Morphological studies of experimental wound healing cells in a murine model

Integument wounds are primarily healed by fibroblasts. These multifunctional cells synthesize collagen and ground substances (acid mucopolysaccharides) from which they fashion fibers and/or laminae. The fibers are formed in the upper layers of the wound by spindle shaped cells which initially grow along fibrin strands. This area of repair eventually becomes the papillary dermis of the scar. Flattened fibroblasts produce stacks of collagen laminae in the deep part of the wound. The laminae are initiated in the subpannicular region several mm behind the wound margin. The laminae grow centripetally and mature (thicken by collagen and ground substance deposition which is effected by subsequent fibroblast activity). The laminae become the reticular layer of the scar dermis. Thus, the collagenous architecture of a scar's connective tissue appears to be related to the shape of the cells involved in assembly.