Ski, a modulator of wound healing and scar formation in the rat skin and rabbit ear

• DOI: 10.1002/path.2831
• Publication Date: 2010-11-26T11:59:02Z
• Authors: Ping Li; Ping Liu; Ren‐Ping Xiong; Xing‐Yun Chen; Yan Zhao; Wei‐Ping Lu; Xia Liu; Ya‐Lei Ning; Nan Yang; Yuan‐Guo Zhou
• Keywords: Male; 0301 basic medicine; Wound Healing; Cicatrix, Hypertrophic; Gene Transfer Techniques; Genetic Therapy; 3. Good health; Rats; Cicatrix; 03 medical and health sciences; Gene Expression Regulation; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Animals; Female; RNA Interference; Collagen; Rabbits; Ear, External; Inflammation Mediators; Rats, Wistar; Skin

AbstractWe recently demonstrated that Ski is a novel wound healing‐related factor that promotes fibroblast proliferation and inhibits collagen secretion. Here, we show that increasing local Ski expression by gene transfer not only significantly accelerated wound healing by relieving inflammation, accelerating re‐epithelialization and increasing formation of granulation tissue, but also reduced scar formation by decreasing collagen production in rat dermal wounds. Similarly, ski gene transfer accelerated wound healing, reduced the protuberant height and volume of scars and increased collagen maturity in a hypertrophic scar model in the rabbit ear. Conversely, reducing Ski expression in the wound by RNA interference resulted in significantly slower wound healing and increased scar area in rat dermal wounds. We demonstrated that these effects of Ski are associated with transforming growth factor‐β‐mediated signalling pathways through both Smad2/3‐dependent and Smad‐independent pathways. Together, our results define a dual role for Ski in promoting wound healing and alleviating scar formation, identifying a new target for therapeutic approaches to preventing scar hyperplasia and accelerating wound healing. Copyright © 2011 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.