19-P019 Retinoic acid signaling in vertebrate appendage regeneration

Wound healing is a series of complex events to heal and regenerate epidermal and dermal tissues after injury. Adults often heal their wounds with scars, while embryos can accomplish this process perfectly, without scars. Previous studies have provided some comparisons between adult and embryonic wound healings; however, details in the inflammatory phase of wound healing, which is believed to be a main reason for scarring, still remain unknown. Based on our microarray results in Xenopus wound healing and regeneration, I have identified some interesting genes that are up-regulated or phosphorylated by wounding. They may responsible for the cell activation, wound closure and tissue remodeling at the wound site, or the inflammatory cell recruitment to the wound. My later research will focus on the specific functions of these candidate genes and their signaling pathways, and try to determine whether they attribute to the scarless wound healing in embryos.