Wound repair is a fundamental process that is required for tissue homeostasis and regeneration following damage. Most studies of wound healing have focussed on changes in the leading edge of wounded cells, but here William Razzell, Will Wood and Paul Martin show that morphogenetic cell shape changes that occur multiple cell rows back from the wound are important for efficient wound re-epithelialisation (p. 1814). Using laser-induced wounding of the Drosophila embryo epidermis as a model, the researchers first show that multiple rows of cells around the wound stretch towards the closing tissue. They further reveal dramatic shrinking of the cell-cell junctions that are perpendicular to the pulling force of the wound. This shrinking, which is driven by pulses of myosin that are directed to the cell junctions, leads to cell intercalations. Importantly, these morphogenetic changes, which resemble those observed during the developmental event of germband extension, are essential for wound closure; blocking myosin activity in cells behind the leading edge results in delayed wound contraction. This work highlights an important role for cells surrounding the wound in its closure, and suggests that the cellular morphogenetic mechanisms used during development are recapitulated during wound healing.
Developing concepts of wound healing
Developing concepts of wound healing. Development 1 May 2014; 141 (9): e0904. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Call for papers: Uncovering Developmental Diversity
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: Uncovering Developmental Diversity. This issue will be coordinated by our academic Editor Cassandra Extavour (Harvard University, USA) alongside two Guest Editors: Liam Dolan (Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology, Austria) and Karen Sears (University of California Los Angeles, USA).
Choose Development in 2024
In this Editorial, Development Editor-in-Chief James Briscoe and Executive Editor Katherine Brown explain how you support your community by publishing in Development and how the journal champions serious science, community connections and progressive publishing.
Journal Meeting: From Stem Cells to Human Development
Register now for the 2024 Development Journal Meeting From Stem Cells to Human Development. Early-bird registration deadline: 3 May. Abstract submission deadline: 21 June.
Pluripotency of a founding field: rebranding developmental biology
This collaborative Perspective, the result of a workshop held in 2023, proposes a set of community actions to increase the visibility of the developmental biology field. The authors make recommendations for new funding streams, frameworks for collaborations and mechanisms by which members of the community can promote themselves and their research.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.