A polarized light study of collagen in dermal wound healing

Abstract

The healing of full thickness excised wounds of pig skin was studied by quantitative polarized light microscopy. Newly formed collagen was only faintly acidophilic and birefringent. Acidophilia and birefringence increased with age. Intrinsic birefringence was almost zero in young collagen and even after 56 days it was much below that of pre-existing collagen. Form birefringence behaved similarly. The findings indicate that maturation of collagen involves more nearly parallel alignment of molecules, presumably through cross-linking involving mainly anionic groups. Peculiar and improperly understood changes in the collagen of autografts are described.