ABSTRACT
Wound healing in the skin is the product of an intricately coordinated program involving numerous cell types that are in constant communication with each other to repair the damaged tissue. These extensive cellular interactions occur in temporally and spatially overlapping phases of infl ammation, proliferation and remodeling. The central players in this wound-healing program are stem cells from a variety of sources such as the bone marrow, peripheral blood, adipose tissue and the skin, which provide the building blocks to repair or replace damaged structures. The amazing plasticity of these stem cells are illustrated by the diverse tissues to which they can contribute including the epidermis, hair follicle, nerve cells, muscle and the vasculature. This chapter will provide a synopsis of extensive research to unravel the complex signaling pathways that regulate the proliferation, homing, and differentiation of stem cells from multiple niches to sites of tissue damage. Moreover, once on site, these stem cells and their progeny secrete a host of cytokines and chemokines that coordinate the
Section of Cell and Developmental Biology, Division of Biological Sciences, Department of Medicine (Dermatology), School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0412, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA; and IFOM-inStem Joint Research Laboratory, National Centre for Biological Sciences, GKVK, Bellary Road, Bangalore, India 560065. Email: colinj@instem.res.in
List of abbreviations after the text.
