Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-23-2025

Comments

This article is the author's final published version in Wound Repair and Regeneration, Volume 33, Issue 4, July 2025, Article number e70075.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/wrr.70075. Copyright © 2025 The Author(s).

Abstract

We tested if hyperoxic conditions can reduce the proportion of active myofibroblasts, which are assumed to be a major driver of head and neck radiation-induced fibrosis, as measured by expression levels of pro-fibrotic genes. Radiated, non-cancerous soft tissue from the head and neck and skin/soft tissue from non-radiated flap donor site were collected from each patient. Myofibroblast density was quantified using immunofluorescence staining with α-SMA and DAPI and visualisation under confocal microscopy and compared between baseline non-radiated and radiated tissue from the same patient. From each tissue specimen, fibroblast cell lines were cultured and exposed to either normoxic, hypoxic, or hyperoxic conditions for 10 days. Total RNA was extracted and reverse-transcribed, and gene expression levels were quantified using RT-PCR. Relative gene expression levels of pro-fibrotic genes COL1A1, COL3A1, FN-EDA, α-SMA, HIF-1α, VEGFα, and VEGFR were compared between normoxic, hypoxic, and hyperoxic treatment groups. Three patients with six total tissue samples were acquired. Radiated tissue contained a higher density of myofibroblasts (calculated as cells/mm

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

PubMed ID

40824267

Language

English

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