Viewing keloids within the immune microenvironment.

Abstract

Keloid is a fibrous hyperplastic disease of the skin characterized by excessive collagen deposition. Keloid patients suffer from severe facial damage and psychological burden, but the underlying pathologic mechanism remains unclear. Keloid fibroblasts are often considered the key cell of keloid formation, but the regulation of the immune microenvironment of keloid fibroblasts is poorly understood. The pathogenic roles of macrophages, Tregs, CD8⁺ T cells, dendritic cells, and natural killer cells in keloids are reviewed and further directions proposed, which may provide a novel window of opportunity for immunotherapy of keloids. Considering the dearth of studies on the function of immune cells related to keloids, the mechanisms of these immune cells in other diseases are further examined herein to provide a reference for future research on the immune microenvironment of keloids.