Scar Inhibition in Wound Healing: Mechanisms, Design, and Recent Advances

The review highlights the importance of scar inhibition in wound healing, emphasizing the negative impacts of excessive scarring and exploring mechanisms like inflammation and fibroblast activity. It discusses recent advances such as gene therapy, stem cell treatments, and biomaterials, which show promise but face clinical challenges. Key strategies include immune modulation, targeting signaling pathways like TGF-β and YAP, and using biomaterials to enhance hair follicle formation and reduce scarring. The document also explores cellular reprogramming and tissue engineering for scarless healing, highlighting the potential of combining regenerative strategies with microenvironment-targeted therapies. Challenges remain in precise delivery and clinical translation, but advancements in precision delivery platforms and standardized clinical endpoints are needed to transition these strategies from experimental to clinical application.