1. Craniofacial Developmental Biology and Regeneration Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
2. ^*Center for Combat Casualty and Life Sustainment Research, Department of Pathology, USUHS, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A.
3. ^†Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC, U.S.A.

Correspondence: Dr. Hynda K. Kleinman, Laboratory of Developmental Biology, National Institutes of Health, Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Building 30, Room 407, 30 Convent Drive, MSC 4370, Bethesda, MD 20892–4370.

Received 28 October 1998; Revised 6 May 1999; Accepted 2 June 1999.

Abstract

Angiogenesis is an essential step in the repair process that occurs after injury. In this study, we investigated whether the angiogenic thymic peptide thymosin 4 (T4) enhanced wound healing in a rat full thickness wound model. Addition of T4 topically or intraperitoneally increased reepithelialization by 42% over saline controls at 4 d and by as much as 61% at 7 d post-wounding. Treated wounds also contracted at least 11% more than controls by day 7. Increased collagen deposition and angiogenesis were observed in the treated wounds. We also found that T4 stimulated keratinocyte migration in the Boyden chamber assay. After 4–5 h, migration was stimulated 2–3-fold over migration with medium alone when as little as 10 pg of T4 was added to the assay. These results suggest that T4 is a potent wound healing factor with multiple activities that may be useful in the clinic.