Researchers have found how thymosin beta 4 (TB4) hastens wound healing in the cornea. TB4 increases MMP-1 levels in the cornea. MMPs, especially MMP-1, have an important role in the wound-healing process as they are involved in cell motility and are an integral part of the complex wound-healing cascade. Conversely, it has been shown that blocking MMPs inhibits the wound-healing process.
"The ability to understand and regulate these molecules enables us to target the most appropriate clinical applications for novel agents such as TB4," notes Gabriel Sosne, M.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology and anatomy/cell biology at the Kresge Eye Institute, of the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, who was part of this discovery.