Healing Without Scars

A recently published study indicates that scar tissue can effectively be transformed into nearly normal looking skin by converting the cells into fat cells, a technique that could lead to new anti-scarring therapies.

Scar tissue is primarily made up of cells known as myofibroblasts. Normal skin, on the other hand, contains fat cells – called adipocytes – as well as hair follicles. What the research revealed is that, although fat and hair develop separately, they are not independent of each other. In fact, a key aspect of the work includes the discovery that the hair follicles form first, and they are responsible for sending the signals to myofibroblasts to regenerate as adipocytes via a factor called Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP). The conversion process was successfully completed in mice as well as in human keloid cells grown in a culture.

The study illustrates for the first time that myofibroblasts are capable of becoming totally different types of cells, and that there is a window of opportunity after a skin wound occurs to influence the healing and eliminate scarring. The findings may also lead to more effective anti-aging strategies by regenerating adipocytes in wrinkled skin.