Applied Electric Fields Polarize Initiation and Growth of Endothelial Sprouts

Figure 9

Models describing electrical sprout polarization during normal wound healing (top) and when therapeutic applied EFs are reversed (bottom). (Top) Endothelial precursor cells (EPCs) and endothelial cells (ECs) migrate toward the cathode in applied EFs and are predicted to migrate to the center of a wound based on the native electrical polarity. Initiation and growth of endothelial sprouts originating from the EPCs and ECs near the center of the wound bed will be directed back toward the edge of the wound, the electrical anode. (Bottom) Reversal of the native wound EF has also been found to increase the rate of healing of chronic epidermal wounds. Under these conditions, sprouts at the edge of the wound would initiate and grow toward the center of the wound, promoting vascularization of the wound bed.