Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have discovered that a protein produced by parasitic worms in the intestines promotes wound healing in mice. The study found that applying the protein to skin wounds speeded up wound closure, improved skin regeneration, and prevented the formation of scar tissue. It remains to be seen whether this protein can be harnessed to promote wound healing in humans.
How do wounds heal?
The skin is an important barrier and central defense mechanism in our bodies. After the body is injured, the injured body must quickly respond to activate the wound healing response. The body heals wounds through a highly organized system, clearing the injured area of foreign pathogens and covering the exposed area to prevent further damage and reduce infection. This tissue repair process involves 3 main overlapping stages to resolve the problem: inflammation, proliferation, and maturation.
The inflammatory phase involves the rapid recruitment of multiple cell types to the wound site immediately after injury. The proliferation phase involves the activation of endothelial cells, macrophages, and fibroblasts that cover the wound. Finally, the maturation phase involves the differentiation and deposition of extracellular matrix.
Skin wounds must be closed quickly to prevent infection, but rapid wound closure can encourage scar tissue to develop rather than proper skin regeneration. The balance between scarring and successful tissue regeneration is strongly influenced by the immune cells that are recruited to the wound site, and many researchers are interested in finding ways to enhance the activity of the types of immune cells that promote regeneration while inhibiting the activity of immune cells that promote tissue scarring.
The discovery that may heal wounds without leaving scars
Recent studies have suggested that molecules secreted by parasitic worms may modify the immune system of an infected body in ways that promote tissue regeneration. A team led by William C. Goss, director of the Center for Immunity and Inflammation at Rutgers, looked at a protein called TGM that is produced by a parasitic roundworm that lives in the intestines of mice and rodents called Heligosomoides polygyrus. The results of the study were published in the journal Live Science Alliance on Aug. 23.
Joss and colleagues found that applying the protein daily to a wound accelerated skin wound closure in mice. What’s more, TGM treatment reduced scar tissue formation while promoting skin regeneration. For example, TGM-treated mice were able to grow new hair follicles within the injured area of skin, unlike untreated animals.
The researchers found that TGM works by binding to a signaling protein called the TGF-B receptor, which is found on the surface of many types of cells in mice and humans, including immune cells. The researchers also believe that TGM therapy stimulates the recruitment of immune cells known as macrophages to treat wounds and reprograms them to promote tissue regeneration.
“In this study, we have developed a novel treatment for skin wounds that favors regenerative wound healing over tissue fibrosis and scarring,” Goss says, according to EurekAlert. “It provides an important framework for the potential use of an easily produced parasitic protein as a treatment to enhance skin wound healing.”