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The secret to scar-free healing might come from an unexpected, if slightly off-putting, source. Scientists found that a protein derived from a species of intestinal parasitic roundworm can speed up wound healing and prevent scarring, at least in mice.
Our skin is remarkably adept at healing from minor cuts and scrapes with few permanent marks. But in response to deeper injuries that damage the inner layer of skin (the dermis), our bodies will produce scar tissue as part of the healing process. Scars do help the body close up wounds faster (limiting the risk of infection) and often fade away over time, but more extensive scarring can drastically change our appearance or even limit the movement of surrounding muscles and joints. So scientists have long tried to find ways of safely boosting our ability to heal without causing scars.
Researchers at Rutgers University and the University of Glasgow in Scotland think that they’ve found one such candidate, and it’s all thanks to a parasitic roundworm known as Heligmosomoides polygyrus. These worms naturally infest the guts of rodents, which has already made them useful to study as a model for human worm infections. To survive in the gut, intestinal worms produce proteins that interact with the host’s immune system, with the net goal being to dampen certain types of immune response.
In recent years, scientists have discovered that H. polygyrus worms make one particular protein that could have surprising benefits for wound healing in people, called TGF-beta mimic, or TGM. Early studies have suggested that the protein can accelerate the skin’s healing process, while also suppressing the kinds of immune activity that lead to scar formation, such as inflammation. To further test this hypothesis, the researchers applied daily doses of TGM to the injured skin of lab mice.
Compared to untreated wounds, the treated wounds healed faster with much less scarring. By day 12, the mice’s treated skin looked almost good as new, which included the regeneration of hair follicles within the dermis. The team’s findings were published this August in the journal Life Science Alliance.
“In this study, we have developed a novel therapy for the treatment of skin wounds that favors regenerative wound healing over tissue fibrosis and scarring,” said senior researcher William Gause, director of the Center for Immunity and Inflammation at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in a statement from the university. “It provides a significant framework for the potential use of an easy-to-produce parasite protein as a therapy to promote cutaneous wound healing.”
Of course, this research is still in the early stages of development. It will take more successful results, including in humans, before we could expect to see worm-boosted bandages available at your local pharmacy. But plenty of scientists are studying and developing all sorts of treatments that could potentially improve how we heal from nasty skin wounds in the near future, from 3D-printed skin grafts to dressings that use good bacteria to fend off the bad.
