Parallels between wound repair and morphogenesis in the embryo

The natural tissue movements of morphogenesis and the artificially-induced movements of tissue repair in the embryo bear remarkably close comparison. Both are largely driven by cell shape changes that in turn are powered by spatially regulated contractions of the actin cytoskeleton. Critical for assembly of these contractile actin machineries are the Rho family of small GTPase molecular switches which have now been shown to play a key role in regulating several morphogenetic movements as well as the epithelial component of embryonic wound healing. In this review we discuss further similarities between wound repair and morphogenesis, in particular focussing on cues that may initiate these processes and stop them when they are finished.