Abstract

Hair follicles: Secret to prevent scars? Although some animals easily regenerate limbs and heal broken flesh, mammals are generally not so gifted. Wounding can leave scars, which are characterized by a lack of hair follicles and cutaneous fat. Plikus et al. now show that hair follicles in both mice and humans can convert myofibroblasts, the predominant dermal cell in a wound, into adipocytes (see the Perspective by Chan and Longaker). The hair follicles activated the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway and adipocyte transcription factors in the myofibroblast. Thus, it may be possible to reduce scar formation after wounding by adding BMP. Science , this issue p. 748 ; see also p. 693