Effect of YAP1-inhibition in Surgical Wounds.

The Role of YAP1 in Fibrosis Explored Through Its Local Inhibition With Verteporfin in Surgical Wounds: A Randomized Controlled, Prospective, Evaluator-blinded Proof-of-concept Study.

When we get injured, our body naturally tries to heal. In adults, this healing often leads to scars - thick, stiff tissue known as fibrotic tissue. Unlike normal tissue, fibrotic tissue doesn't function properly and can cause serious health problems, depending on the affected organ. Once it forms, fibrosis is usually permanent.

A good example of the fibrosis process is the healing of our skin: after a cut or surgery, the resulting scar is a type of fibrosis. Special cells called fibroblasts are key players in this process.

Our study looks at a drug called verteporfin, which is already approved both in Europe and the U.S. Previous research on mice and human cells suggests it can reduce or even prevent fibrosis.

We are now testing, clinically, histologically and by scRNA-seq, whether injecting verteporfin into the skin during wound healing, specifically after surgical procedures, can prevent thick, rigid scars from forming. Since the skin is easy to observe and sample, it offers a great model for studying this.

Will verteporfin have an impact on how surgical wounds heal? That's what we aim to find out.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Scar Formation
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Verteporfin Injection; Drug: NaCl (placebo)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 24
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jöri Pünchera, M.D.; Phone Number: +41223729450; Email: jpuc@hug.ch
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Michael Mühlstädt, M.D.; Phone Number: +41223729450; Email: mmuh@hug.ch

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Willing and able to provide informed consent as documented by signature
• Age is >/= 18 years and < 56 years (differently said: starting from the 18th birthday to completion of their 55 years)
• Indication for a safety margin excision (5 mm laterally) due to melanoma in situ or severe dysplastic nevi previously completely excised
• Length of initial scar from 15 mm to 50 mm
• The initial lesion was excised on the back (to ensure that all patients undergo their safety margin excision within the internationally accepted timeframe, we will also accept patients requiring the procedure at another anatomical site if a particular batch cannot be filled within 4 weeks of its first patient's enrollment)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinical adenopathy (cervical, axillar, inguinal) defined as a lymph node of more than 1 cm diameter
• Melanoma in situ of lentigo maligna or acral lentiginous type
• Head and neck location
• Diameter of initial lesion above or equal to 3 cm
• Known and documented hypersensitivity to Verteporfin or to any of its excipients: lactose monohydrate, egg phosphatidylglycerol (to simplify we will exclude patients with known and documented allergy to egg protein), dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine, ascorbyl palmitate, butylated hydroxytoluene (E321)
• Porphyria
• Moderate hepatic dysfunction referred to as any of the following: AST >1.2x upper normal range, ALT >1.2x upper normal range, decreased albumin level, prolongation of PT
• Biliary obstruction referred to as any of the following: ALP >1.2x upper normal range, GGT >1.2x upper normal range, anormal bilirubin level
• Pregnancy referred to as: positive beta-hCG blood test
• Breast-feeding
• Planned pregnancy in the next 6 months
• History of either one of the following: keloids, scleroderma, morphea, lupus erythematosus, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, graft-versus-host disease, lichen sclerosus, eosinophilic fasciitis, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, cutis laxa, Marfan syndrome, or pseudoxanthoma elasticum

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Placebo arm	Drug: NaCl (placebo); During the safety margin excision, the placebo (NaCl) will be injected into the wound before suturing.
Experimental: Study arm (verteporfin)	Drug: Verteporfin Injection; During the safety margin excision, the study drug (Verteporfin) will be injected into the wound before suturing.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quantification of the profibrotic mesenchymal fibroblast subpopulation in the study group compared to the placebo group.	For comparison between groups, skin samples of the repaired tissue taken at visit 4 (Day 90 +/- 10) will be compared between the patients of both groups.	There are 90 +/- 10 days between visit 1 and visit 4.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The changes of fibroblast subpopulations, clusters, and their different cell-cell interactions in both groups before and after the study intervention.	For comparison over time in both groups, skin samples of the repaired tissue taken at visit 4 (Day 90 +/- 10) will be compared to the scar sample of visit 1 (Day 0) in all patients of both groups.	There are 90 +/- 10 days between visit 1 and visit 4.
Quantification of pilosebaceous units and profibrotic activity (quantity of collagen I and III and its ratio, fibronectin, α-SMA, nuclear localization of YAP1 and En1-staining) and its change over time	For comparison over time in both groups, skin samples of the repaired tissue taken at visit 4 (Day 90 +/- 10) will be compared to the scar sample of visit 1 (Day 0) in all patients of both groups.	There are 90 +/- 10 days between visit 1 and visit 4.
Quantification of the different fibroblast subpopulations in unwounded, healthy skin.	In all patients, 2 slices of the initial FFPE skin samples will be analyzed.	The initial excision will take place 21 to 54 days before V1.
The changes of different fibroblast subpopulations passing from unwounded skin to scarred, to repaired skin.	Analysis of the initial FFPE skin samples compared to the analysis on Day 0 and Day 90 (+/- 10).	There are a maximum of 56 days + 90 +/- 10 days between the inital mole removal and visit 4.
Comparison of the clinical outcomes of the scars in both groups.	The clinical outcomes will be evaluated by VSS scoring at visit 3 (Day 14 +/- 2), visit 4 (Day 90 +/- 10) and visit 5 (Day 180 +/- 10).	There are a minimum of 154 and a maximum of 178 days between visit 3 and visit 5.
The comparison of PROMs	PROMs will be assessed in both groups by SCAR-Q scoring at Day 14 (+/- 2), Day 90 (+/- 10) and Day 180 (+/- 10).	There are a minimum of 154 and a maximum of 178 days between visit 3 and visit 5.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Jöri Pünchera
• Collaborators: University Hospital, Geneva; University of Geneva, Switzerland
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jöri Pünchera, M.D., University Hospital, Geneva

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Mascharak S, desJardins-Park HE, Davitt MF, Griffin M, Borrelli MR, Moore AL, Chen K, Duoto B, Chinta M, Foster DS, Shen AH, Januszyk M, Kwon SH, Wernig G, Wan DC, Lorenz HP, Gurtner GC, Longaker MT. Preventing Engrailed-1 activation in fibroblasts yields wound regeneration without scarring. Science. 2021 Apr 23;372(6540):eaba2374. doi: 10.1126/science.aba2374.
• Jiang D, Correa-Gallegos D, Christ S, Stefanska A, Liu J, Ramesh P, Rajendran V, De Santis MM, Wagner DE, Rinkevich Y. Two succeeding fibroblastic lineages drive dermal development and the transition from regeneration to scarring. Nat Cell Biol. 2018 Apr;20(4):422-431. doi: 10.1038/s41556-018-0073-8. Epub 2018 Mar 28.
• Jiang D, Rinkevich Y. Converting fibroblastic fates leads to wound healing without scar. Signal Transduct Target Ther. 2021 Sep 1;6(1):332. doi: 10.1038/s41392-021-00738-6. No abstract available.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): May 8, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 17, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): April 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 17, 2025
• Last Verified: April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Fibrosis; Wound healing; Verteporfin; Scar; YAP1
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Wounds and Injuries; Surgical Wound; Dermatologic Agents; Photosensitizing Agents; Verteporfin
• Other Study ID Numbers: CCER_Etude 2024- 00419

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data (IPD) underlying the assessment of primary and secondary outcomes, will be shared in a coded, anonymized format via a secure repository in accordance with FAIR data principles and Open Research Data guidelines. Data will be made available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request following publication. Access may be subject to a data use agreement.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No