Fibroblast maturation in burned tissue is modified by neutrophils

Here we identify the temporal overlap between inflammatory and remodeling phases during burn healing. We generate mesenchymal cell reporter fish to investigate the developmental origin and burn wound response of mesenchymal, fibroblast-like cells in larval zebrafish.

We show that maturation of these cells is perturbed following burn injury and that the presence of neutrophils in burned tissue is inhibitory to their behavior. This work adds to our understanding of fibroblast development in zebrafish and shows that collagen expressing mesenchymal cells regulate ECM remodeling in coordination with immune cells during burn wound healing.