Figure 5.

Wound healing of normal and glycated skin. During dermal wound healing following a lesion (1), fibroblasts multiply and migrate towards the center of the wound to participate in the wound closure during the proliferation phase (2). Thereafter, during the remodeling phase, the fibroblasts produce pro-collagen I (3), which matures and is deposited as a cross-linked form in the dermis to restore the skin (4). With hyperglycemia and increased glycation in diabetics, the dermal extracellular matrix becomes highly glycated (5). Our model shows that exposure to glyoxal leads to the accumulation of lipid droplets in fibroblasts, with impaired proliferative and migratory capacities (6). During the remodeling phase, pro-collagen I is produced correctly (7) but it does not mature properly and it cannot induce the formation of new collagen fibers (8).