Growth factors in skin wound healing

The healing of skin involves a wide range of cellular, molecular, physiological and biochemical events. During the healing process, cells migrate to wound sites where they proliferate and synthesize extracellular matrix components in order to reconstitute a tissue closely similar to the original one. This activity is regulated by mediators secreted from the wound border cells such as PDGF, EGF, TGF beta and many other cytokines. Their effects on cells has been demonstrated in vivo and in vitro. The aim of this article is to summarize the sequential events that occur during wound healing notably cell migration, proliferation and phenotypic differentiation and to describe the cellular interactions involving growth factors at the molecular level.