During the past decade, significant progress in molecular and cellular
te- niques has greatly advanced our understanding of the wound healing
p- cess. Many of these new techniques have been utilized in the context
of more classic models of wound healing. The combination of new and
classic approaches has allowed scientists to make exciting discoveries
in the field of tissue repair, resulting in an explosion of information
about the healing p- cess. Importantly, these new findings have great
relevance beyond wound healing itself. The injury repair process cuts
across many disciplines, exte- ing to such broad fields as cancer,
inflammation, and atherosclerosis. The relevance of the field to these
many disciplines has generated great interest in models and methods for
the study of wound healing. The goal of Wound Healing: Methods and
Protocols is to provide scientists from many dis- plines with a
compendium of classic and contemporary protocols from r- ognized experts
in the field of wound healing. We hope this volume will be useful not
only to those working within the field itself, but also to scientists
from other disciplines who wish to adapt wound healing models to their
own experimental needs. The process of wound healing encompasses many
different biologic p- cesses, including epithelial growth and
differentiation, fibrous tissue prod- tion and function, angiogenesis,
and inflammation.
