The Epithelial Sodium Channel and the Processes of Wound Healing

Figure 3

Morphological cellular changes during wound healing of cultured epithelia. In the actin-cable mode (a) the healing cells mainly migrate in compact collective fashion and conserve the epithelial phenotype to a greater extent. Some cells at the wound border develop small lamellipodia (arrowheads) that drag the tissue towards the injured area. In the lamellipodial mode (b) the border cells progressively lose their apicobasal polarity and the cell-cell contacts and acquire well-developed lamellipodia. The lateral views (lower panels) show that while in the actin-cable mode the border cells conserve their morphology, in the lamellipodial mode the cells at the wound edge flatten and detach from their neighbors. WB: wound border. The arrows indicate the direction of healing.

(a)

(b)