Accelerated Closure of Diabetic Wounds by Efficient Recruitment of Fibroblasts upon Inhibiting a 14-3-3/ROCK Regulatory Axis

Chronic non-healing wounds negatively impact on quality of life and are a significant financial drain on health systems. The risk of infection that exacerbates co-morbidities in patients necessitates regular application of wound care. Understanding mechanisms underlying impaired wound healing are therefore a key priority to inform effective new generation treatments. Here, we demonstrate that 14-3-3-mediated suppression of signaling through ROCK is a critical mechanism that inhibits the healing of diabetic wounds. Accordingly, pharmacological inhibition of 14-3-3 by topical application of the sphingo-mimetic drug RB-11 to diabetic wounds on a mouse model of type II diabetes, accelerated wound closure more than two-fold relative to vehicle control, phenocopying our previous observations in 14-3-3ζ knockout mice. We also demonstrate that accelerated closure of the wounded epidermis by 14-3-3 inhibition causes enhanced signaling through the Rho-ROCK pathway and that the underlying cellular mechanism involves the efficient recruitment of dermal fibroblasts into the wound and the rapid production of extracellular matrix proteins to re-establish the injured dermis. Our observations that the 14-3-3/ROCK inhibitory axis characterizes impaired wound healing and that its suppression facilitates fibroblast recruitment and accelerated re-epithelialization suggest new possibilities for treating diabetic wounds by pharmacologically targeting this axis.