Specific Epigenetic Molecules Involved in Wound Healing and Repair

The ability to direct the wound pathways following injury could provide a critical path in wound care at crucial times during the progression of healing. A promising field of study in wound healing is epigenetics; alterations in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in DNA sequence. Identification of epigenetic factors and their manipulation may result in the development of novel therapies that enhance wound recovery as well as diagnostic tests that assess the progress of wound repair. In this Phase I, Agave BioSystems, in collaboration with Dr. Vincenzo Pirrotta of Rutgers University, proposes to characterize the role of Polycomb Group (PcG) complexes during the wound healing process and manipulate PcG repression to accelerate wound healing. PcG complexes are known to regulate multiple genes involved in keratinocyte differentiation and proliferation during wound healing. We anticipate that PcG repression may have different effects at different stages in the healing process. While derepression might be advantageous to express genes that promote healing, it is known that PcG repression of other genes is required for cell proliferation that is also essential for wound healing. Therefore, the specific PcG targets and timing of PcG derepression are important and may require a two-stage treatment.