Figure 1. The Akt-mTOR pathway is upregulated during wound healing.

(Upper panel). Representative histological sections of skin after incisional cutaneous wounds in mice. H&E stained section displaying the histological characteristics of the unwounded epithelium (normal adjacent) followed by an increase in the thickness of the spinous layer (acanthosis) (transitional), and the presence of migrating epithelial cells that form an epithelial tongue (epithelial tongue) at the wound edge. (second panel from top). Immunofluorescence for Cytokeratins 10 and 14 (K10-14, red) reveals the epidermal layer, which is delineated from the dermis by a white dotted line. Note the expansion of pAkt⁴⁷³ and pS6 (red) during wound healing from a single cell layer in the granular layer to multiple cell layers in the transitional epithelium, followed by expression in all cell layers including the basal layer in the migrating epithelial tongue (lower two panels). Cell nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue) and fibrin(ogen) with a FITC-conjugated antibody (green) in all panels. Scale bar, 50 µm and 100 µm, as indicated.