Evidence suggests that these factors may stimulate granulation tissue formation as well as regulate blood haemostasis in the early stages of normal wound repair. During dermal wound healing, the skin is subjected to mechanical forces which are known to effect connective tissue metabolism and may lead to scar formation. Studies in the group investigating the mechanisms regulating collagen turnover and alignment by dermal fibroblasts under mechanical tension are currently being examined using in vitro models. Scar tissue may also form following damage to the serosal layer covering most internal organs and lining the peritoneal cavity. Tissues which should normally remain separated often become joined together by fibrous scar tissue known as adhesions.
Abdominal adhesions can cause intestinal obstruction, chronic pain and infertility in women.
Little is known about how adhesions form, how they mature and how they are broken down naturally in the body. Our studies are aimed at understanding the pathophysiology of post-operative adhesions, in particular the role of structural proteins deposited as a clot between two opposing injured surfaces and the fibrinolytic enzymes involved in their breakdown. In addition to understanding problems which occur following peritoneal trauma, studies are also focused on examining the mechanisms involved in normal serosal healing, in particular the repair of the surface mesothelial cell layer. A better understanding of processes involved in mesothelial healing may help us develop new strategies for the prevention and treatment of serosal pathologies such as serosal fibrosis, mesothelioma and adhesions. Cytokine regulation of mesothelial cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo.