Mitochondria provide essential signals that regulate macrophage states, enabling them to switch between different phases of wound healing.

“Another study found that macrophages-- so macrophages are an important immune cell that play a role in healing. So if you cut yourself, your body will get-- send inflammation that way and send immune cells that way to try to heal your skin. And macrophages play an important role in that healing. One group of researchers tried to figure out how do macrophages know to switch between the different phases of wound healing because the macrophages do different things in the different phases of wound healing. And the conclusion of all of their research was that it's mitochondria. Mitochondria are sending the essential signals that change the state of the macrophages to induce these different phases of wound healing.”