| Abstract: | The role of macrophages in the resorption of the denatured collagen of wound detritus was established by transmission and scanning electron microscopy of healing skin wounds. In the period preceding active collagen synthesis and fibrillogenesis a phenomenon of close cellular contact between macrophages and fibroblasts of the granulation tissue was found. It is postulated that the role of macrophage-fibroblast interaction consists of the transmission of specific information with the aid of processed collagen breakdown products on the basis of feedback between collagen catabolism and biosynthesis. This feedback may be part of the homeostatic mechanism regulating the development of connective tissue.Central Scientific-Research Laboratory, I. M. Sechenov First Moscow Medical Institute. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. I. Strukov.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 83, No. 5, pp. 627–630, May, 1977. |
