Formation of intercellular junctions during wound healing in mammary epithelial cell monolayer. Mammary epithelial cell monolayer was grown to confluence and mechanically wounded. Cells at the free edge lose their intercellular junctions, form lamellipodia and migrate to fill the empty space.

This confocal image shows cells at the last stage of healing, when cells from opposite sides of the wound have made contact and are beginning to put the critical membrane proteins into their proper positions to form intercellular junctions. The time course in which filamentous actin (red; rhodamine phalloidin) and occludin (blue, anti-occludin antibody) appear at the newly forming intercellular contacts (arrow) has shown that the cytoskeleton is critical in this process. Nuclei were stained green (Syto) to help identify cells.

This work is ongoing in the laboratory of Terry Machen in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology.