Regenerative healing, scar-free healing and scar formation across the species: current concepts and future perspectives

All species have evolved mechanisms of repair to restore tissue function following injury. Skin scarring is an inevitable and permanent endpoint for many postnatal organisms except for non-amniote vertebrates such as amphibians, which are capable of tissue regeneration. Furthermore, mammalian foetuses through mid-gestation are capable of rapid wound repair in the absence of scar formation. Notably, excessive cutaneous scar formation, such as hypertrophic and keloid scars, is a species limited clinical entity as it occurs only in humans, although wounds on the distal limbs of horses are also prone to heal with fibroproliferative pathology known as equine exuberant granulation tissue. Currently, there are no reliable treatment options to eradicate or prevent scarring in humans and vertebrates. The limited number of vertebrate models for either hypertrophic or keloid scarring has been an impediment to mechanistic studies of these diseases and the development of therapies. In this viewpoint essay, we highlight the current concepts of regenerative, scar-free and scar-forming healing compared across a number of species and speculate on areas for future research. Furthermore, in-depth investigative research into the mechanisms of scarless repair may allow for the development of improved animal models and novel targets for scar prevention. As the ability to heal in both a scarless manner and propensity for healing with excessive scar formation is highly species dependent, understanding similarities and differences in healing across species as it relates to the regenerative process may hold the key to improve scarring and guide translational wound-healing studies.