Wang En-tong, Zhao Min
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, General Hospital of Air Force, Beijing, China.
Chin J Traumatol. 2010 Feb;13(1):55-61.
Endogenous electric fields (EFs) have been detected at wounds and damaged tissues. The potential roles of EFs in tissue repair and regeneration have been an intriguing topic for centuries. Recent researches have provided significant insights into how naturally occurring EFs may participate in the control of tissue repair and regeneration. Applied EFs equivalent to the size of fields measured in vivo direct cell migration, cell proliferation and nerve sprouting at wounds. More remarkably, physiological EFs are a guidance cue that directs cell migration which overrides other well accepted directional signals including initial injury stimulation, wound void, contact inhibition release, population pressure and chemotaxis. EFs activate many intracellular signaling pathways in a directional manner. Modulation of endogenous wound EFs affects epithelial cell migration, cell proliferation, and nerve growth at cornea wounds in vivo. Electric stimulation is being tested clinically for the treatments of bone fracture, wound healing and spinal cord injury. EFs thus may represent a novel type of signaling paradigm in tissue repair and regeneration. Combination of the electric stimulation and other well understood biochemical regulatory mechanisms may offer powerful and effective therapies for tissue repair and regeneration. This review introduces experimental evidence for the existence of endogenous EFs and discusses their roles in tissue repair and regeneration.
内源性电场（EFs）已在伤口和受损组织中被检测到。几个世纪以来，EFs在组织修复和再生中的潜在作用一直是一个引人入胜的话题。最近的研究为自然产生的EFs如何参与组织修复和再生的控制提供了重要见解。施加与体内测量的电场大小相当的EFs可引导伤口处的细胞迁移、细胞增殖和神经芽生。更值得注意的是，生理EFs是一种引导细胞迁移的信号，它能超越其他被广泛认可的定向信号，包括初始损伤刺激、伤口空隙、接触抑制解除、群体压力和趋化作用。EFs以定向方式激活许多细胞内信号通路。调节内源性伤口EFs会影响体内角膜伤口处的上皮细胞迁移、细胞增殖和神经生长。电刺激正在临床上用于治疗骨折、伤口愈合和脊髓损伤。因此，EFs可能代表了组织修复和再生中的一种新型信号范式。电刺激与其他已被充分理解的生化调节机制相结合，可能为组织修复和再生提供强大而有效的治疗方法。这篇综述介绍了内源性EFs存在的实验证据，并讨论了它们在组织修复和再生中的作用。
