Fig. 1. The cellular players in the healing of a skin wound. The wound is first ‘plugged’ with a fibrin clot, which is infiltrated by inflammatory cells, fibroblasts and a dense plexus of capillary vessels. The epidermis migrates forwards from the edges of the wound and from the cut remnants of hair follicles. Neutrophils and macrophages (blue) emigrate from the wound capillaries into the wound granulation tissue where they kill microbes, engulf cell and matrix debris, and release signals that act on the host wound tissues. Image modified, with permission, from Martin (Martin, 1997).