Grant: Operating Grant: Fall 2008 Priority Announcement (IMHA)

Fibroproliferative disorders (FPD) are common, serious human disorders that cause scarring and fibrosis in organs and tissues and are a leading cause of death and human suffering. Hypertrophic scars (HSc), which are hard, red, elevated scars that are a painful and itchy form of FPD in the skin. They are common following burns and many other forms of injury to the skin, where they can severely limit the function of joints and disfigure the appearance and compromise the comfort of the patient. Wound healing following injury involves inflammation, cell growth and dermal matrix production regulated by cytokines (proteins secreted by cells that regulate cell function), which ultimately leads to repair and scar formation. Recently, we have found cells from the bone marrow are attracted to wound sites in patients after deep injuries to the skin, where they appear to interact with specialized groups of skin fibroblasts located in the deeper layers of the skin to form HTS. Our intent is to further investigate the interactions of these cells and the nearby environment in the deep layers of the skin with circulating cells of the immune system to improve our understanding of how fibrosis develops and to develop new treatments to improve healing and reduce fibrosis in the skin and other tissues affected by FPD.