Figure 8 | Scientific Reports

Figure 8

From: Molecular mechanisms of esophageal epithelial regeneration following repair of surgical defects with acellular silk fibroin grafts

Figure 8

Model of signaling cascades which control epithelial regeneration during repair of surgical esophageal defects. Following surgical integration of acellular grafts, c-MET and TrkA receptors are activated in host epithelial cells buttressing the defect site via respective binding of HGF and NGF ligands. These pathways lead to inhibition of pan-caspase activity in the neoepithelium which mitigates apoptosis and encourages epithelial survival allowing for epithelial regeneration to occur. In addition, c-MET activation leads to upregulation of the anti-apoptotic protein, Birc3. In parallel, surgical injury also activates PI3K which leads to phosphorylation of Akt that is capable of exerting pro-survival stimuli in the neoepithelium partly through pan-caspase inhibition. Created with BioRender.com.

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