Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Inflammation

Wound healing in zebrafish

Nature volume 459, pages 921–923 (2009)Cite this article

What is the first signal that directs the rapid influx of immune cells to a wound to stave off potential infection? A study in the zebrafish reveals an unusual but well-qualified candidate.

The rapid recruitment of white blood cells to a wound site after tissue damage is essential to prevent the entry of microorganisms into the breach and to help to coordinate wound closure. These immune cells perform other functions at wounds as well, such as clearance of cell and tissue debris during the repair process. However, overenthusiastic inflammation can be damaging1, so understanding how immune cells are recruited to a wound and how the inflammatory response resolves is crucial. A complex series of temporally overlapping signalling molecules, including the well-studied chemokine proteins, are known to attract immune cells to a wound site. But the identity of the initial chemoattractant generated at the site of tissue damage has, so far, remained elusive. A study published in this issue by Niethammer et al.2 (page 996) now indicates that this earliest 'danger' signal originates from a surprising source — a gradient of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) emanating from the wound.

Your institute does not have access to this article

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Visualizing neutrophil migration in zebrafish larvae.

References

  1. Stramer, B. M., Mori, R. & Martin, P. J. Invest. Dermatol. 127, 1009–1017 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Niethammer, P., Grabher, C., Look, A. T. & Mitchison, T. J. Nature 459, 996–999 (2009).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Vestweber, D. Immunol. Rev. 218, 178–196 (2007).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Cvejic, A. et al. J. Cell Sci. 121, 3196–3206 (2008).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kim, M.-H. et al. J. Invest. Dermatol. 128, 1812–1820 (2008).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Linden, J. Science 314, 1689–1690 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Shi, Y., Evans, J. E. & Rock, K. L. Nature 425, 516–521 (2003).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Scaffidi, P., Misteli, T. & Bianchi, M. E. Nature 418, 191–195 (2002).

    ADS  CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  9. McNeil, P. L. & Ito, S. J. Cell Sci. 96, 549–556 (1990).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Mathias, J. R. et al. J. Leukocyte Biol. 80, 1281–1288 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Renshaw, S. A. et al. Blood 108, 3976–3978 (2006).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hall, C. et al. BMC Dev. Biol. 7, 42 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Schäfer, M. & Werner, S. Pharmacol. Res. 58, 165–171 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lee, S.-R. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 277, 20336–20342 (2002).

    CAS  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Paul Martin and Yi Feng are in the Departments of Physiology and Pharmacology, and of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK. paul.martin@bristol.ac.uk; yi.feng@bristol.ac.uk,

    Paul Martin & Yi Feng

  2. yi.feng@bristol.ac.uk,

    Paul Martin & Yi Feng

Authors
  1. Paul Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yi Feng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Martin, P., Feng, Y. Wound healing in zebrafish. Nature 459, 921–923 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/459921a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/459921a

Further reading

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing