The experimental study on the effect and mechanisms of integrin-linked kinase in burned wounds healing

Abstract

Objective To explore the expression of integrin-linked kinase (ILK) in normal skin and in burned wounds of the rats, and to study its effect and mechanisms on wound healing. Methods Burns models of superficial Ⅱ° burned wounds were prepared in 16 rats. Four rats were randomly selected,and the expression of ILK was detected on the day 1,5,10 and 15 by immunohistochemistry respectively.Normal skin from 4 SD rats served as control group. The human normal skin specimens were obtained from 8 donors who accepted skin grafting. Fibroblasts isolated from the skin specimens were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum (FCS) and TGF-β1 (5 μgL)in TGF-β1 group. Identical fibroblasts were cultured under the same conditions without TGF-β1 in control group. The mRNA expression levels of ILK and fibronectin in fibroblasts at the 72nd h after treatment with TGF-β1 were detected by FQ-PCR. Results ILKs were highly expressed on the wounds during a period of 5 to 10 day as compared with normal skins and the healed wounds. The expression levels of ILK and fibronectin were significantly increased at the 72nd h after TGF-β1 treatment. Conclusion The expression of ILK was significantly increased during the course of wound healing. ILK may play an important role in wound healing.TGF-β1 can induce the expression of ILK and fibronectin in skin fibroblasts. ILK possibly promotes wound healing via the interaction between integrin and TGF-β1 pathway. Key words: Integrin-linked kinase; Wound; TGF-β1