UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; UQ Diamantina Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
UQ Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
J Invest Dermatol. 2018 May;138(5):1166-1175. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2017.12.004. Epub 2017 Dec 14.
Skin wound healing in adults is characterized by a peak of angiogenesis followed by regression of the excessive vasculature in parallel with collagen deposition and fibrosis in the wound. We hypothesized that regressing vessels in healing wounds were in fact entering an endothelial to mesenchymal transition contributing to scarring. Using vascular-specific fate tracking (Cdh5-cre/ROSA-YFP mice), full-thickness excisional wounds were analyzed to reveal a time-dependent transition from endothelial phenotype characterized by vascular endothelial-cadherin, CD31, and CD34 toward a mesenchymal phenotype characterized by alpha-smooth muscle actin and fibroblast-specific protein 1 expression. We next conditionally ablated RBPJ in the vasculature (Rbpj/Cdh5-creROSA-YFP) to evaluate the role of canonical Notch signaling in this process. Endothelial to mesenchymal transition was clearly accelerated after the loss of Notch signaling within the vasculature. The acceleration of endothelial to mesenchymal transition resulted in delayed wound healing, increased fibrosis, and extensive scar tissue formation, with the rapid loss of key endothelial genes and proteins and upregulation of mesenchymal protein expression (alpha-smooth muscle actin and fibroblast-specific protein 1) in vessels. Our findings here uncover a cellular contributor to skin wound scarring through the process of endothelial to mesenchymal transition in skin wounds and demonstrate the importance of Notch signaling in regulating this critical process during healing.
成人皮肤伤口愈合的特征是血管生成达到高峰,随后与胶原蛋白沉积和纤维化平行,过度血管消退。我们假设愈合伤口中退化的血管实际上正在进入内皮到间充质转化,从而导致瘢痕形成。使用血管特异性命运追踪(Cdh5-cre/ROSA-YFP 小鼠),分析全层切除性伤口,揭示了从内皮表型(以血管内皮钙黏蛋白、CD31 和 CD34 为特征)向间充质表型(以α平滑肌肌动蛋白和成纤维细胞特异性蛋白 1 表达为特征)的时间依赖性转变。接下来,我们在血管中条件性地敲除 RBPJ(Rbpj/Cdh5-creROSA-YFP),以评估经典 Notch 信号在这个过程中的作用。血管中 Notch 信号的缺失明显加速了内皮到间充质的转变。内皮到间充质的转变加速导致伤口愈合延迟、纤维化增加和广泛的瘢痕组织形成,血管中关键的内皮基因和蛋白迅速丢失,间充质蛋白表达(α平滑肌肌动蛋白和成纤维细胞特异性蛋白 1)上调。我们的研究结果揭示了皮肤伤口中内皮到间充质转化过程是皮肤伤口瘢痕形成的一个细胞贡献者,并证明了 Notch 信号在调节愈合过程中的这一关键过程中的重要性。