637 Hypoxia-Induced Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition Mediates Fibroblast Abnormalities via EKR Activation in Cutaneous Wound Healing

Previous studies described the involvement of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) in systemic fibrotic diseases, but the role of ERK in cutaneous scarring is unknown. Although hypoxia drives tissue fibrosis by activating hypoxia-inducible factor-1 α (HIF-1α), the specific roles of hypoxia and associated ERK phosphorylation in abnormal fibroblast activity during cutaneous scarring are unclear. Here, we investigated whether pathologic myofibroblast-like keloid fibroblast activity is promoted by hypoxia-induced epithelial–mesenchymal transit ion mediated by ERK activation.

Source: Journal of Investigative Dermatology - August 31, 2019 Category: Dermatology Authors: J. Kim, B. Kim, S. Kim, Y. Lee, J. Lee Tags: Wound Healing and Tissue Remodelling Source Type: research