Tissue healing, repair and fibrosis
Regeneration versus scar, labile, stable and permanent cells, the four phases of wound healing with their cells and growth factors, collagen synthesis and what vitamin C, copper and zinc do, factors and drugs that delay healing, the timeline of healing after myocardial infarction, and organ fibrosis driven by TGF-β.
Tier 2Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- Injured tissue either regenerates (same cells, normal structure) or repairs with a collagen scar. Which one happens depends on the cell type and whether the extracellular matrix scaffold survives.
- Skin wounds heal in four overlapping phases: haemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, remodelling.
- Macrophages orchestrate repair; TGF-β is the master fibrogenic cytokine; myofibroblasts contract wounds and make scar.
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Sources
- Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10th editionElsevier (Kumar V, Abbas AK, Aster JC), 2021
- Gurtner GC, Werner S, Barrandon Y, Longaker MT. Wound repair and regeneration. Nature 2008;453:314-21Nature, 2008
- Eming SA, Martin P, Tomic-Canic M. Wound repair and regeneration: mechanisms, signaling, and translation. Sci Transl Med 2014;6:265sr6Science Translational Medicine, 2014
- Henderson NC, Rieder F, Wynn TA. Fibrosis: from mechanisms to medicines. Nature 2020;587:555-66Nature, 2020
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
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