Mechanism of Action
Fibroblast Migration
Last updated
Fibroblasts are the cells that build and maintain connective tissue. In repair they have to move into the damaged area before they can lay down new matrix. This mechanism covers compounds reported to increase that movement, which is nearly always measured as cells crossing a deliberate gap in a culture dish.
Why it matters here
It is one of the few repair mechanisms with a cheap, clean laboratory readout, which is exactly why so many records here sit on the in_vitro rung and go no higher.
What it is not
A scratch assay, where cells close a gap on plastic, is not wound healing in a person, and it is the most over-quoted experiment in this category. Fibroblast migration is also not Collagen Synthesis: moving into position and building matrix are separate steps, and a compound can support one without the other.
Also called
- fibroblast migration
- fibroblast recruitment
- fibroblast activation
Fibroblast recruitment and fibroblast activation are used loosely for this mechanism, though strictly they describe attracting cells and switching them on rather than their movement.