Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR was performed on RNA extracted from the unwounded connective tissue that lay beneath the injured cutaneous and mucosal epithelium (N=8 per time point). Remarkably, an epithelial-restricted injury resulted in significant profibrotic changes in the underlying mesenchymal tissue of skin, but not mucosa. The cutaneous dermis demonstrated significant upregulation of the profibrotic growth factor TGF-β (A), the principal extracellular matrix component, collagen 1 (B), and the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor TIMP1 (C). These changes were not observed in the mucosal lamina propria. * = p<0.05, ** = p<0.01, *** = p<0.001.