Prudden's initial studies showing the acceleration of wound healing in the presence of MCC were followed up in studies by Prudden and other investigators. Among them was an evaluation of the MCC effect on the time course of wound tensile strength as an index of wound healing. It was found that MCC increases the rate of growth as well as the ultimate strength of the wound. It was further demonstrated that the increase in tensile strength of the MCC treated wound is related to the accelerated growth of granulation tissue.

A straight-line polymer, poly-N-acetylglucosamine, was isolated from cartilage and identified as being responsible for its wound healing acceleration. It is believed that MCC may also aid in the migration of fibroblasts, which secrete the protein strands that help wounds heal by creating a connective tissue matrix. An impressive component of this effect is the ability of MCC to reverse the inhibition of wound healing brought about by steroids. This reversal is believed to be important in the treatment of various skin lesions where topical steroids are routinely employed.

It was further demonstrated by Houck and Vickers that the topical application of cartilage minimizes the loss of both insoluble collagen and insoluble hexosamine from wounds and increases the sceleroprotein content of the lesion, reducing healing time from over 28 days to 15 days. The insoluble hexosamine is most probably due to mucopolysaccharides since changes in the amount of insoluble noncollagenous nitrogen in the wound are not paralleled by similar changes in soluble hexosamine, as would be the case if the hexosamine were in a glycoprotein form.

Dr. David C. Sabiston, Jr. wrote in Sabiston's Textbook of Surgery: “Only one substance…[MCC] has been shown to effect healing unequivocally.”

Advancements in the treatment of chronic wounds have led to the development of biologic skin replacement products, among them a bilayer membrane system composed of bovine collagen and shark cartilage.