Autologous micrograft accelerates endogenous wound healing response through ERK-induced cell migration

Abstract Defective fibroblast migration causes delayed wound healing (WH) and chronic skin lesions. Autologous micrograft (AMG) therapies have recently emerged as a new effective treatment able to improve wound healing capacity. However, the molecular mechanisms connecting their beneficial outcomes with the wound healing process are still unrevealed. Here, we show that AMG modulates primary fibroblast migration and accelerates skin re-epithelialization without affecting cell proliferation. We demonstrate that AMG is enriched in a pool of WH-associated growth factors that may provide the initiation signal for a faster endogenous wound healing response. This, in turn leads to increased cell migration rate by elevating activity of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and subsequent activation of matrix metalloproteinase expression and their extracellular enzymatic activity. Moreover, AMG-treated wounds showed increased granulation tissue formation and organized collagen content. Overall, we shed light on AMG molecular mechanism supporting its potential to trigger a highly improved wound healing process.