Department of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Building, Nanyang Technological University 11, Mandalay Road, 308232 Singapore.
Burns. 2020 Sep;46(6):1389-1397. doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2020.03.011. Epub 2020 Apr 30.
Burn wounds continue to worsen after initial injury in a process known as burn conversion, which lasts about 3-5 days. It causes burn wounds to enlarge and deepen, leading to greater morbidity. Apoptosis is one of the factors contributing to the conversion of the zone of stasis into the zone of coagulation. Suppression of apoptosis has been associated with reducing burn conversion. Connexin 43 (Cx43) gap junctions facilitate the spread of apoptotic signals from dying cells to healthy neighbouring cells in injured tissues through the bystander effect.
The study is to understand the role of Cx43 in burn conversion.
In our study, 15 burn tissue samples were arranged into three groups as early (beginning of burn conversion), intermediate (extensive burn conversion) and late (established burn conversion) burns.
We found a striking increase in the amount of Cx43 protein expressed in the dermal fibroblasts (identified with heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) staining) in the zone of stasis in early and intermediate burns. These dermal fibroblasts also express high levels of cleaved-Caspase 3 indicating on-going apoptosis.
Our findings suggest that elevation of Cx43 may play an active role in burn conversion spreading apoptosis in the early and intermediate burn wound.
烧伤创面在初始损伤后会继续恶化，这一过程称为烧伤转化，持续约 3-5 天。它会导致烧伤创面扩大和加深，导致更高的发病率。细胞凋亡是导致淤血区向凝固区转化的因素之一。抑制细胞凋亡与减少烧伤转化有关。连接蛋白 43（Cx43）间隙连接通过旁观者效应促进凋亡信号从死亡细胞向受伤组织中健康相邻细胞扩散。
本研究旨在了解 Cx43 在烧伤转化中的作用。
在我们的研究中，将 15 个烧伤组织样本分为三组，即早期（烧伤转化开始时）、中期（广泛烧伤转化时）和晚期（已建立的烧伤转化时）。
我们发现在早期和中期烧伤的淤血区，真皮成纤维细胞（用热休克蛋白 47（HSP47）染色鉴定）中表达的 Cx43 蛋白量显著增加。这些真皮成纤维细胞也表达高水平的 cleaved-Caspase 3，表明存在持续的细胞凋亡。
我们的研究结果表明，Cx43 的升高可能在早期和中期烧伤创面中通过扩散凋亡发挥积极作用，促进烧伤转化。
