BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Therapeutics

Dermatology

October 18, 2018 6:45 PM UTC

Patient sample and mouse studies suggest inhibiting CXCL12 could help treat scars. In injured skin samples from scar patients, CXCL12 levels were higher in patients aged 40 years or younger with thick scars than in older patients with thin scars, and in injured skin samples from the young patients, CXCL12 levels were higher than in normal skin tissue. In mice with ear puncture injuries, skin-specific knockout of CXCL12 plus the generic antibiotic doxycycline decreased wound size and scar formation compared with doxycycline alone. Next steps include clinical testing of Mozobil plerixafor, a synthetic antagonist of the CXCL12 receptor CXCR4, in scar patients...