Wound healing in adult skin: aiming for perfect regeneration

Abstract

Wound healing in adult skin, a complex process involving many cell types and processes such as epidermal, fibroblastic, and endothelial cell proliferation, cell migration, matrix synthesis, and wound contraction, almost invariably results in scar tissue formation and wound induration. Unlike in adult skin, wound healing in embryos involves repair processes that result in the essentially perfect regeneration of damaged tissue. This paper discusses key mechanisms that lead to scar tissue formation in adult human skin and treatment modalities, including curcumin gel, that may result in essentially perfect skin regeneration following surgical procedures.