Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have discovered that a protein produced by parasitic worms in the gut enhances wound healing in mice. The study, to be published August 23 in the journal Life Science Alliance ( LSA ), reveals that applying the protein to skin wounds speeds up wound closure, improves skin regeneration, and inhibits the formation of scar tissue. Whether the protein can be harnessed to enhance wound healing in human patients remains to be seen.
Skin wounds must be rapidly closed in order to prevent infection, but rapid wound closure can favor the development of scar tissue instead of properly regenerated skin. The balance between scarring and successful tissue regeneration is strongly influenced by immune cells recruited to the wound site, and many researchers are interested in finding ways to boost the activity of immune cell types that promote regeneration while inhibiting the activity of immune cells that promote tissue scarring. Recent studies have suggested that molecules secreted by parasitic worms might modulate the host's immune system in ways that promote tissue regeneration.
In the new LSA study, a team led by William C. Gause, Director of the Center for Immunity and Inflammation at Rutgers, investigated a protein called TGM that is produced by Heligmosomoides polygyrus , a parasitic roundworm that lives in the intestines of mice and other rodents. Gause and colleagues found that daily topical applications of TGM accelerated the closure .