Path followed
1. Are there any external resources that can be used by the damaged component?
Answer: Yes
2. Do these external resources directly repair the damaged component?
Answer: Yes
3. Can the repair begin without an external energy source?
Answer: Yes
1) General wound healing
If an animal gets a cut on their arm and does not have regeneration abilities, the wound will heal and most likely become scar tissue. Immediately after it gets cut the wound will start bleeding and as long as there is not a bleeding disorder the blood will clot. This clot has fibrin, which allows the clot to stay in place as it dries (Harding et al.). Once clotted the blood vessels dilate to allow blood-oxygen, nutrients, and innate immune response to occur. Neutrophils converge on the wound site to phagocytize any viral or bacterial infection that may occur (Harding et al.). Basophils provoke acute inflammation at the sites where antigens were deposited from the bacteria or virus. Basophils release histamine, which causes the inflammation and macrophages process the antigen for the lymphocytes. Langerhans cells, skin cell macrophages, phagocytize damaged or dying neutrophils and stimulate interleukin-1. Interleukin-1 increases body temperature, stimulates T-lymphocytes, and stimulates fibroblasts. Fibroblasts secrete extracellular matrix precursors and collagen proteins that form connective tissues (Mandal). If the cut was deep the fibroblasts will produce immature collagen, which have less tensile strength than proper collagen. This in turn causes a scar to appear.
Mandal, Ananya. “What Are Fibroblasts?” What Are Fibroblasts? News-medical.net, 06 May 2010. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Fibroblasts-What-are-Fibroblasts.aspx
Harding, K. G., H. L. Morris, and G. K. Patel. “Healing Chronic Wounds.” British Medical Journal 324.7330 (2002): 160-63. NCBI. Web. 14 Jan. 2015.
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