# Dissecting the contributions of Langerhans cell to cutaneous wound healing

> **NIH NIH F31** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $46,036

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Wound healing is a critically important field of healthcare, yet current medical technologies fail to address
the needs of 6.5 million patients who suffer from chronic injuries in the United States alone. Each year, non-
healing wounds inflict a $37 billion burden on the U.S. healthcare system. As the country’s population continues
to age and become increasingly diabetic, these numbers are projected to consistently rise. The development of
therapeutic strategies to mitigate the toll of non-healing wounds relies on basic understanding of the mechanisms
that regulate skin repair. The goal of this work is to improve this understanding by identifying signaling events
that drive successful skin regeneration, and specific cell types responsible for propagating those signals. We
recently revealed that Langerhans cells (LCs), a subset of skin-resident immune cells, are imperative to
successful wound healing, particularly for the formation of new blood vessels. Little is known, however, about
the specific function of LCs during cutaneous repair. Using genetically engineered mouse models in which LCs
can be specifically targeted for cell death or deletion of specific genes, we propose to investigate the timing and
molecular mechanisms through which LCs mediate wound healing. We hypothesize that in response to skin
injury, LCs secrete Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFa) into the cutaneous macroenvironment to
promote angiogenesis and dermal repair. This hypothesis is based on: 1) our data that in the absence of LCs,
reparative processes—such as revascularization—are completely abrogated, and 2) our preliminary findings that
LCs express the gene for VEGFa at multiple time points during wound healing. In this project, we will define the
specific cellular processes that LCs direct during the proliferative phase of wound healing, as well as the signaling
molecule required to perform one of these functions: revascularization.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10116166
- **Project number:** 5F31AR073094-03
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Renee Wasko
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $46,036
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10116166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10116166, Dissecting the contributions of Langerhans cell to cutaneous wound healing (5F31AR073094-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10116166. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*